Shen vs Kai: When Evil Collides
by Berserker88
Summary: By a cruel twist of fate, Kai, the dark master of chi, escapes from the Spirit Realm months earlier than expected. As he sets out on his path of vengeance, his goals quickly come into conflict with the current ruler of Gongmen City, who doesn't appreciate some newcomer trying to steal his claim to China. When these two evil powers clash, things are gonna get ugly fast.
1. A Different Path

_And here we are! A new Kung Fu Panda movie and a new fanfic to go with it!_

 _Yes, I absolutely adored KFP3. Perhaps not as much as 2, but that's hardly a complaint. I especially loved the new villain Kai, who may not have as much intrigue as Lord Shen, but made up for it by just being really really fun to watch. He was the perfect blend of evil and darkly hilarious. So since I love these two villains so very much, it's only natural that I put them in a fic together. Without further adieu, I give you Shen vs. Kai!_

 _Enjoy. :)_

* * *

 **Shen vs. Kai: When Evil Collides**

 **Chapter 1: A Different Path**

"...inner peace...inner peace..."

Deep in the afterlife of legendary masters known as the Spirit Realm, Grandmaster Oogway, creator of kung fu and paragon of virtue, meditated in solitude. It was something he did very often now. After all, what else was there to do here? He had willingly given up his life for the sake of the future, and now he was here, free to spend the rest of eternity communing with the universe. It was a prospect most people would find mindless and soul-crushing, but Oogway, as he often had, was able to find the silver lining even in death itself.

Already, he had spent countless days simply walking (or floating) through the vast expanse of his new home, observing the intricate patterns all around him, seeing how far one could throw a stone in a place that knew no gravity, making another staff to replace his lost one, making an even bigger staff just in case. To the enlightened mind, the Spirit Realm was not the end of life, but simply the beginning of another.

The old tortoise smiled to himself. The universe was being quite talkative today. He knew exactly why of course. It was almost time. In only a few months, a path that had been paved a long time ago would finally be traveled. A new era in the history of kung fu was about to begin. And it would only be a few more mon-

Oogway stiffened as he suddenly heard a noise. It was a sharp, rattling sound that grew steadily louder...approaching his very position.

 _No. It can't be..._

Unprepared, he only had time to dodge out of the way as a giant green blade struck the place he was just sitting. That weapon was unmistakable. It had to be _him_ , and yet it couldn't be. Not so soon. The machinations of fate were firm and precise, like pieces on a game board.

Now it appeared that his old friend had just flipped the table.

"...You are early." It was all he could say.

The blade was yanked out by its chain and returned to its master, a bulky yak standing on the platform across from him. A yak who was now raising an eyebrow in utter bafflement. This was clearly not the reaction he was expecting. "Oh sorry, am I interrupting your Zen time? I'll just come back next Tuesday then."

Kai turned around and walked a few steps away, before he abruptly stopped and threw out another blade behind him. Oogway swung his staff and deflected it harmlessly into the air. "I've waited almost five hundred years for this rematch," Kai growled. "I'm not waiting a second longer just because it doesn't fit into your divine schedule." The second blade came back to him as well, and he now swung them in circles at his side, glaring menacingly. "Now fight me, _brother!_ "

He didn't understand. This was not how it was supposed to happen.

The universe had gone silent.

Oogway sidestepped to the left to avoid the first blade, then the right to dodge the other. He grabbed both chains and catapulted himself into the air. He could see Kai down below, grinning wickedly at him. This was a battle he already knew he would lose, and yet it was a battle he would fight regardless. That was his destiny.

But now it seemed that destiny had gone wrong. His chosen successor, the future of kung fu, was not yet ready for this challenge. For the first time in longer than he could remember, Master Oogway had no idea how this would all play out.

Even still, he believed.

 _There are no accidents._

Oogway readied his staff as he plunged towards his adversary.

 _Not even this._

* * *

Gongmen City had always been one of the most prosperous cities in China. With the invention of fireworks, it became more prosperous still, achieving a legacy that would last until the end of time.

Lord Shen, the city's new ruler, intended to go even further. Gongmen would soon be the crown on his new empire.

Like all great rulers, his success had not come easy. First, he had taken what was already his parents' legacy, the power of fireworks, and made it his own. With his new weapon at Gongmen's gates, no one would dare to threaten the city again. Then everything went wrong. The prophecy, the massacre, the exile, all those struggles he had to endure. All those years he had to spend cold and bitter, awaiting the day he would take back what was rightfully his.

Now that day had finally come. His future had been secured. Or had it?

Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure why he insisted on having the old Soothsayer divine for him again. Perhaps he just wanted to see the look on her face when he finally proved her wrong. Or maybe there was a lingering fear that maybe, just _maybe_ , there was still something he needed to worry about.

...Ridiculous. He must have wanted the look.

Whatever the reason, that was why the two of them were now standing there in front of her divination bowl. After a fair bit of annoyance that he was sure the old goat had caused just to spite him, he was finally going to see his future.

The contents of the bowl burst into blue flames, lighting up the entire room as they rose towards the ceiling. The Soothsayer closed her eyes, lost in a trance. "I see…I see…a peacock…"

Shen watched the flames rise even higher, some of them turning pure white and forming into a distinctly familiar shape. His shape. Shen looked to them eagerly. What glory lied in his future now? What great victories did he have yet to achieve?

The Soothsayer froze. Her expression, normally so calm and assured, turned pale. She had seen something she did not expect. "I…I don't understand…"

Shen could barely keep the smug grin off of his beak. There it was. The look he had been waiting for. "My future…has _changed,_ hasn't it?"

But his grin faltered as she stared up into his eyes. This was not a look of defeat, or disappointment, or even regret. It was a look of sheer terror. "It has…" she whispered, "…but it has not changed for the better…"

Before their eyes, the image of the peacock suddenly burst into flames. Shen took a reflexive step back in shock. Even the old goat was surprised, gasping at the sight. The normally blue flames turned into a sickly green, consuming Shen's image right in front of him. He saw his own face cry out in agony, and then it was all gone. The bowl returned to normal like none of it ever happened.

Shen needed a few more seconds to recover from that, then whirled around on the goat frantically. "What _was_ that?! And don't tell me it was this 'warrior of black and white'!"

She shook her head slowly, fearfully. "No…you will no longer be defeated by a warrior of black and white. You will not get the chance." Her expression now turned into a mix of horror and sorrow. "Shen…in three days' time…you will be dead."

Shen's eyes widened in fright and he put a wing over his chest. "I…I don't believe it…"

His face abruptly shifted into a scowl. "You've managed to come up with a prophecy even more absurd than your last. Well done." After all, this was not the first time she had foretold his demise, even if she wasn't so direct about it before. He chuckled to himself, walking towards her. "And let me guess, I am to avert this horrible fate by changing my ways and going down a different path?"

She turned away. "...You are to avert it by leaving the city at once and running far away."

"Of course I am." He rolled his eyes. "You just can't let me be satisfied, can you?"

He saw a flash of anger on her face, another expression he wasn't used to. "I can't let you be _killed_."

"Killed? Me?" He burst into loud, unpleasant laughter. "Well, if it's not this black and white wonder of yours, then who is it? Who is going to come for my life this time? Nobles? Peasants? _Demons?_ "

"I foresaw...that you will meet your end at the hands of a greater evil."

Shen snorted, unimpressed. "Vague as always, I see. I don't suppose this 'greater evil' has a name?"

"He has many names…though he will soon find he is unable to use them…"

"Enough of this!" Shen threw a knife into the center of her bowl, shattering it into pieces. She had foreseen him doing just that, but it was not for this reason. "I have come too far to be scared away by your ghost stories."

She didn't need to be a seer to know that she was not going to convince him, but she felt compelled to try anyway. "Shen, please listen, I am only trying to keep you safe."

" _Safe?_ " His eyes blazed with fury as he towered over her. "Since when have you _ever_ cared about keeping me safe?! Was it not you who foretold that damned prophecy and got me exiled in the first place?! Tell me Soothsayer, how _safe_ do you think I was spending all those years out in the desolate cold?! How _safe_ do you think I was having to plunder nearby villages just to find enough food to survive?!"

He was wrong of course. It was Shen who had gotten Shen exiled, but she couldn't find the will to argue that now. Her mind was too clouded to even think about it.

She didn't understand. This was not how it was supposed to happen.

But Shen paid no mind to her inner turmoil and continued. "But guess what? I survived, didn't I? I survived, and now I'm back to finish what I started. You just admitted yourself that your original prophecy will not come to pass. Do you know what that means?" He leaned in close, hissing at her. "It means that you were _wrong,_ Soothsayer. And if you were wrong once, I'm willing to bet you will be wrong again. Because nothing is going to keep me from my destiny. Not a panda, not some mysterious boogeyman, and certainly not _you."_

She did not respond.

For a long time, the two just stared at each other in silence. That silence was broken by the sound of thundering paws coming up the stairs.

"Lord Shen! Lord Shen! I saw a panda!" the Wolf Boss cried.

He could tell instantly that he had missed something. Shen barely even batted an eye.

* * *

 _Footnotes:_

 _To make the timeline clear, this fic kicks off shortly after the beginning of KFP2. So the attack in the Musician's Village has already happened, Thundering Rhino is dead, and the heroes are en-route to Gongmen City right now. There are reasons I did it this way, which will become apparent later. Because needless to say, this is not going to stick to the events of canon for very long._


	2. Changes

_Nice to see some interest in this already. I was wondering if anyone was going to be writing fics for the new movie yet, let alone be interested in reading one. I'm already finding Kai such a joy to write for myself._

 _Now he just needs to make it into the character filter already._

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Changes**

The sky was particularly beautiful that night. It was as if the constellations had all decided to come out of hiding and throw themselves a party. Anyone who happened to be looking up would have little trouble finding each and every one of them.

But stars were not the only thing in the sky that night. Some particularly observant watchers had noticed something else. A mysterious flash of green had appeared tonight, a phenomenon unlike anything seen before. No one was sure what it could be, nor did they get much chance to find out. For as quickly as this green streak appeared, it was gone, continuing its journey across the sky as if guided by some outside force. Those that didn't lose interest immediately came to see it as some kind of sign. Green was a color of health and benevolence, so some people had even believed it was a good omen for times to come.

These people were very very wrong.

The green streak did eventually stop, and when it did, a swirling portal had formed instead, carving out a massive crater into the ground below. When this vortex of chi dissipated, Kai was standing in its place.

The yak looked around slowly. He was standing in the middle of what appeared to be a local farm. It also appeared to be completely empty. "Really? _No one_ saw that?" he asked, a bit miffed. What a waste of a dramatic entrance.

He took a deep breath, finding the feeling of natural air entering his lungs to be both refreshing and stifling. As he took in his surroundings, he saw much darker hues take up the sky, and rocks firmly planted in the ground by that thing called gravity. Yes, he was going to have to get used to this plane of existence again. As limiting as the Spirit Realm was, it was at least nice to look at.

"No matter. I'll have plenty of time to adjust. Isn't that right, Oogway?" His hoof gripped the jade amulet he wore around his neck, all that remained of the "great" Grandmaster. Grinning madly, he thrust his muscled arms into the air. "KAI HAS RETURNED!"

Grabbing several more amulets off of his belt, he threw them to the ground, where they transformed into something quite different. A whole legion of kung fu masters now stood before him. Or rather, _ex-_ kung fu masters. They were nothing but mindless jade statues now, his soldiers to command.

And command them he did. "Find Oogway's students and bring them to me!" They obeyed at once and ran off into the horizon. Whoever it was that the tortoise had last taught, his soldiers would find them. They were like bloodhounds when it came to chi. "By the time I am done with them, Oogway, there will be no one left who will even remember your name." He shouted into the heavens. "KAI IS COMING!"

He looked around again, hopefully, but found that he was still alone.

"Seriously?! _No one?!_ Unbelievable."

* * *

"Wait...so you _don't_ want the panda?"

The Wolf Boss quirked his head to one side in typical canine fashion. Who was this peacock in front of him, and what had he done with Lord Shen?

"For the last time, NO!" he snapped, turning around and inviting no further conversation. The wolf discreetly leaned in and sniffed at him. No, this was Shen's scent all right. The possibility of brain damage had not been ruled out though.

Meanwhile, Shen was starting to think it was the wolf who had brain damage. He looked back over his shoulder to see the dumb mutt still standing there, shuffling his padded feet awkwardly. "You're not going to let this drop until I explain it, are you?"

He gulped nervously. "Well, uh, with all due respect sir, you've kinda had a beef with pandas for a long time. Like, a _really_ long time. A really, really, rea-"

"Yes, yes, I get it!" Shen cut him off, turning back around. "But that has now changed. This panda, whoever he may be, is inconsequential to my plans. The Soothsayer has confirmed it herself." He gestured over to the old goat, still in the same spot she was before. "That _is_ what you said, isn't it Soothsayer?"

She remained silent.

"Hmph. Fine. I like you better when you're quiet anyway." He returned his attention to the Wolf Boss. "You see? Nothing to worry about. The fleet departs in three days, just as planned, and-"

 _"Shen...in three days' time...you will be dead."_

 _"..._ Sir?" The Wolf Boss waved a paw in front of his face.

Shen slapped it away. "And China will be mine! Now get out of here and return to your patrols!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Though reluctant, he said no more on the subject and bounded off again.

The Soothsayer muttered something inaudible.

"What was that?" Shen asked.

"You should have told him," she repeated.

"Told him what?" he scoffed. "To keep a look out for any 'great evils' marching on my city? You know as well as I do that the weapon I wield is unstoppable. Nothing will stand in my way."

"What about the panda?"

Shen sighed in exasperation. "What _about_ the panda? Weren't you paying attention? I have already thwarted your ridiculous 'warrior of black and white' prophecy. Even if there _is_ a panda still alive, he is of no further concern to me. Right now, he's probably sleeping on bamboo, or admiring his own belly, or whatever it is those repulsive creatures do for fun."

* * *

"I just found out that my dad...isn't really my dad."

Po looked down at his legs as he sat on the deck of their boat. He and the Five were traveling upriver, almost to Gongmen City by now. There, they would stop Lord Shen, destroy his new weapon, and save China. And yet, that was the last thing on his mind right now. He was much more hung-up on the revelation he had been faced with before they even left. Which was why he and Master Tigress were talking like this in the first place.

"Your dad...the _goose?_ " Po nodded. "...That must have been quite a shock."

"Yeah..." Okay, so _maybe_ he had a feeling that Mr. Ping wasn't really his dad. That didn't mean he was prepared to hear about how he found him in some radish crate, or that his real parents had probably just left him somewhere.

"And this bothers you?"

But he couldn't look weak in front of his idol. "Heh... are you kidding me? We're warriors, right? Nerves of steel! Souls of platinum! ...Like you! So hardcore you don't feel anything."

"AGGGH!"

Po froze, about to give Tigress a playful punch in the shoulder when she suddenly reeled back in pain, something foreign now sticking out of that same shoulder. "Holy crap, is that an arrow?!" Tigress fought down the urge to yank out the offending object, knowing that would only make it worse. It did look pretty strange though. Not so much an arrow as a...quill?

"Po, get down!" Despite her injury, Tigress tackled the panda to the floor as two more glowing quills whizzed over their heads and embedded themselves into the deck. She looked up, just faintly seeing a small green creature firing at them from shore. This was quickly followed by two similar creatures bursting out of the water on either side. One of them tackled Tigress off of Po, through their stack of vegetable crates, and back into the water.

But he didn't have the time to worry about her safety as he found himself fending off the other assailant. An assailant who was starting to look very familiar. "Hey, wait a minute! You guys are the Master Badger Twins!" Po gasped excitedly between fending off blows from the badger's staff. He yelped as another quill came down and just barely missed his foot. "And that guy is totally Master Porcupine! I knew I recognized the distinct shape of his Quills of Fiery Pain!" The staff struck him upside the head, but he barely seemed to notice. "Oh wow, I can't believe that actual legends of kung fu are trying to kill me! Seriously, _huge_ fan! I even have your actions figures! Dang, I knew I should've brought those too!"

In the midst of his fanboy moment, the badger had backed him up against the edge of the boat, where he now teetered unsteadily. "Ugh, this is _so_ not a big enough battleground for something this awesome."

The badger moved in to topple him, but was kicked away by Mantis, the rest of the Five having finally joined in. "And here I thought we weren't going to get into trouble until we actually _reached_ the city. Silly me."

"What _is_ that thing?" Viper asked, horrified.

" _Things,"_ Po corrected. "There's another one shooting at us from shore, and-oh geez, Tigress!" The panda turned and flung himself into the water with no further explanation.

Not that it was needed. They got the gist pretty quickly when the badger came at them, along with another volley of quills. Crane flew up immediately to shield the others, deflecting the quills with a gust from his wings. "Viper, let's take out that archer!"

"Got it!" Viper flung herself from the mast and wrapped herself around Crane's hat, then they both flew off towards Porcupine.

* * *

Monkey and Mantis were left to deal with the Badger Twin. "Okay, nice teamwork guys! Thanks for the heads-up!" Mantis called out cheerfully. The badger swung his staff down to swat him, but Mantis leapt on top of the weapon, traveled up its length, and jabbed several nerve points in his opponent. A normal fighter would have been immobilized. The jade badger barely flinched. "Crap! They don't have nerves!"

Monkey threw a punch at the badger's face, and only ended up hurting his own hand. "But _I_ sure do. Owww..." The badger tried to counter with a swing of the staff, which Monkey ducked under. As Mantis landed a hard kick to the badger's back, Monkey jumped over his head, grabbed him up in his tail, and chucked him overboard.

Mantis stared at the resulting ripple in the water uneasily. "I'm not so sure that was a good idea."

"You think so?"

There was a sickening crack as a green staff stabbed up through the center of the boat, making them both jump back. The two masters hopped around as the staff came up at them over and over again, poking holes all over the deck. Monkey finally managed to grab it, and was violently yanked into the floor a few times before he added his feet and tail to the grip, after which he was able to pull the badger up through the deck and into the air. Mantis was already waiting with the boat's boom held in his thingies, and he swung it around, catching the badger in the sail. Monkey yanked the sail off and quickly wrapped the creature up with it.

"Well that takes care of that," Mantis said, Monkey tying the makeshift sack tightly as the jade monstrosity struggled within.

At that moment, several jets of water squirted up through the numerous holes in the boat. "Oops."

* * *

Crane swerved to the left and right, dodging around the flying quills, up until he got close enough to attack. "Are you ready?"

"Of course," Viper answered, uncurling from the bird's hat and slithering down to his talons. Dodging another quill, Crane pulled Viper back and fired her like a rubber band, straight at Porcupine's face.

The jade archer was caught off-guard and stumbled back. As he tried to fire again, Viper quickly wrapped around his arms and caused him to shoot a quill straight up into the air. At this point, Crane dived down and kicked Porcupine onto his back. As the quill came back down, Viper leapt off of the prone archer, grabbed the projectile, and thrust it down to pierce the creature's heart.

"Got him," she sighed in relief.

Porcupine jumped right back up, the quill sticking out of his chest, but otherwise unharmed. "What is this thing made of?!"

"Jade."

"Thanks," Viper said, rolling her eyes.

Master Porcupine loaded his bow again and jumped, firing quills down at them. Viper zipped back and forth as the quills landed all around her, while Crane took the skies, firing another blast of wind at Porcupine and blowing him even higher. Disoriented only for an instant, and unnervingly nonchalant about being this high up, Porcupine fired back at Crane much faster than he expected, shooting off his hat. The bird just barely kept it from being his head.

Catching up to Porcupine, Crane grabbed the archer in his talons and dove down at such a speed that he was unable to get another shot off. Once he got enough momentum, he threw his opponent, watching as he flew down...and landed directly on top of the same bed of quills he had shot at Viper.

Pierced through most of his limbs, Porcupine struggled in vain to free himself, immobilized by his own natural weaponry. Crane and Viper smiled and gave each other a high-five as best as two creatures without hands could manage.

* * *

Tigress was grappling underwater with the other Badger Twin, holding tightly onto his staff. Rapidly losing air and dealing with an injured shoulder, she had a lot more trouble doing this than she would normally. She made a few attempts to kick him off, but the jade master proved just as durable as he looked and refused to let go. She didn't notice how quickly they were sinking until she suddenly found her back to the riverbed. Shifting his weight on top of her, the badger pressed the staff tightly against her throat, forcing even more oxygen out of her lungs.

Returning the favor from before, Po came in at that moment to dive bomb the badger off of her. If they weren't underwater, she was fairly certain it would've been accompanied by a "Shakabooey!"

Her lungs becoming the more pressing concern, Tigress left Po with the badger and frantically swam to the surface. She burst out of the water, gasping for breath, then grimacing as this aggravated her shoulder injury even further.

Back underwater, Po had finally knocked the staff from the badger's grasp. As his limbs were too small to reach past his long neck, he quickly found himself on the wrong end of a very one-sided beatdown. Ending with a muffled battle cry, Po delivered an uppercut that sent the badger flying back up to the surface. Tigress saw him coming and promptly slammed a fist into his jade skull, sending him back down. Po kicked it back up, and Tigress knocked it back down. They continued this for a few more rounds until Tigress finally grabbed the badger and threw him roughly onto shore. Cracked in several places, it had trouble standing back up again.

Tigress panted, more from exertion than lack of air. She nearly decked Po out of reflex when he came up from behind and put his arm around her. "Don't worry, I gotcha. Now let's get back to the boat."

" _What_ boat?" Tigress asked bitterly.

Po looked over to see what used to be their ride now rapidly sinking into the river. Only the mast was still above water and the actual sail was missing. Sitting on the boom, Monkey held the other thrashing badger in what was left of the sail, while Mantis just grinned sheepishly. "Uh...we can explain."

* * *

Po and the Five were now gathered onto shore. Mantis had removed the quill from Tigress's shoulder and bandaged it up, while the others looked over their mysterious attackers, all three now incapacitated. Master Porcupine was still stuck on his own quills, one Badger Twin was tangled up in the sail, his efforts to free himself only getting him more stuck, and the other Badger Twin Po just sat on top of, his girth providing little room for resistance. He was having way more fun than he should have just poking and teasing the poor thing.

"Okay, I'll ask again," Viper said. "What the heck are these things?"

"Some kind of jade zombies," Tigress observed.

"Jade zombies...jombies!" Monkey shouted proudly.

Po, distracted by poking one of the newly-dubbed jombies in the snout, frowned. "Aw man, you beat me to it!"

Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed out of the mouths of all three jombies, making them flinch. "I see you..." a menacing voice spoke as the jombies' eyes glowed. "Your chi will soon be mine."

Po hesitantly poked the badger again. "Is he talking to _me?_ "

"Which one?" asked Tigress. "They're _all_ talking."

"Wow, you're right! That's so scary! We should try that too. Maybe it'd be scary back at them."

"Okay," Mantis agreed, "but we gotta plan what we're gonna say first or else it won't be scary, it'll just be stupid."

"It's not them talking, you _idiots_!" the jombies all shouted. "It's me, talking through them, Kai!"

"Who?" Po and the Five chorused.

"Did Lord Shen send you to stop us?" Tigress asked accusingly.

"Who?" the jombies echoed back.

Tigress just growled in frustration and stormed off. Po decided to be a bit more personable. "Hey, uh, Kai?"

All three heads turned to him. "What?!"

"Look, this a little awkward, but we're kind of already dealing with a bad guy at the moment. Could you maybe just hold off for a week or two until we finish up in Gongmen City? Then we can all have an epic showdown worthy of the greatest legends. Okay?"

"No, that is _not_ okay! Do you have any idea how long I have waited for this already?!"

"Uh..."

"Five hundred years! ...Give or take."

"...That's a long time."

"Sure is! And I am not going to sit here and be disrespected by some tubby panda who doesn't bathe enough! I can smell through these things too, you know."

"Okay, that was a little uncalled for. I don't need-"

"Po, move!" Tigress ordered, shoving him aside.

"I will not be ignored! I am Kai! The Master of Pain! The Beast of Vengeance! The Maker of-"

*SMASH*

Tigress dropped a massive boulder onto all three jombies, shattering them to pieces and effectively shutting him up.

Mantis winced. "That can't be good for the healing process."

Tigress brushed the dust off of her paws. "Now that _that_ annoying distraction is out of the way, can we get back to the mission now?"

Viper looked out across the water. "That...could be difficult." They could all see the outline of Gongmen City on the distant horizon, looking even more distant now that they lacked transportation.

"I know! Why not just have Crane carry us the rest of the way?" Po suggested.

Crane gaped at him. "Either you seriously overestimate my strength or you seriously underestimate your weight."

"He'd never be able to fly us in without being spotted anyway," Tigress sighed. "We have no choice. Looks like we're hoofing it."

"Awww, that's gonna take forever!" Po whined. "Can we at least bring snacks?"

Viper bit her lip. "Actually Po, all of our food was on the boat..."

He screamed in agony.

"If we hurry, we can make it within another day or two," Monkey tried to reassure him. He failed.

Po muttered bitterly to himself as he followed after the Five. "Stupid Kai. Stupid jombies. Stupid..."

Unbeknownst to any of them, as soon as they left, the giant boulder sitting on top of the jombies started to rumble. All of the scattered jade pieces around and underneath it glowed a bright, sickly green. They condensed together into three separate orbs of chi and flew off in the opposite direction.

* * *

To say that Kai was pissed would be a bit of an understatement.

"So...they don't think I'm worth their time, do they?" he growled to himself, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the wooden surface of his current hideout. He had been gone too long. These people didn't know better than to fear him anymore. Just as well. He would simply have to _make_ them fear him again.

Still, if there was one thing this encounter proved, it was that Oogway's students were powerful indeed. Too powerful for his forces to handle just yet. He needed more chi.

He thought back to what the masters had mentioned. Lord Shen. Gongmen City. If that was where they were going, then there must be something worth going after there. It would be as good a place as any for him to build on his collection.

His eyes glowed with chi energy, forming another link with his jade soldiers. "Converge on this 'Gongmen City' at once and bring me all the strongest chi you can find." With no pain, no fatigue, and no limitations, his soldiers would easily beat Oogway's students to the punch. By the time they reached the city, it was already going to be cleared out for them. Frankly, they should be thanking him.

And as for this "Lord Shen" they were so worried about, he would not only take his chi, he would turn him into his servant and smash him to pieces right in front of them, just to make a point.

* * *

 _For those not familiar with nautical terms, a boat's "boom" is the beam that juts out from the mast and holds up the sail._

 _Some of the dialogue in this chapter is intentionally ripped straight from the movies, just to better highlight the differences. It's going to stop being so similar very soon._


	3. Brains and Brawn

_I shouldn't have to say this, but yes, there will be KFP3 spoilers in this fic. I won't go into most of the actual movie for obvious reasons, but anything related to Kai, including his backstory, is fair game. You have been warned._

 _One more chapter of this, and then I think I'll start to alternate with my other fic. Just wanted to get a good head start._

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Brains and Brawn**

 _It was a stormy day as a lone messenger hawk soared through the skies. The conditions made him rather anxious, especially as he was also flying over a seemingly-endless expanse of sea. One stray lightning bolt and he was a goner, no question about it. The only reason he was even making this dangerous flight in the first place was because of the sealed message held in his talons. If this thing didn't reach its intended recipient, all hell was going to break loose. More importantly, he would be out of a job._

 _Finally, he saw his destination, a fleet of ships sailing below him. Taking a brief moment to compose himself, for he knew exactly who he was about to meet with, he soared down to the front of the fleet and approached the flagship. It was a significantly larger ship than the others, with blood-red sails and a crew of menacing animals of all kinds. He knew instantly that this_ _was the deadly warship known as the "Black Yak"._

 _In actuality, it was more of a light brown, but anyone who pointed that out tended not to live very long._

 _The hawk gulped as he looked around at the intimidating faces and threatening glares all around him. He made sure to keep his scroll clearly visible, so these beasts wouldn't try to eat him before he could deliver his message. He was ushered to the back of the ship, where he saw a canopy erected to keep the rain off of the fleet's leaders, the mighty warlord duo who had run rampant over China for decades now. Two large, impressive thrones sat in front of him, exactly the same, but properly fitting only one of the occupants._

 _He was nudged roughly in the back, and he realized he had just been standing there in fright. Like it or not, he had a job to do. He stepped forward and bowed, presenting the message scroll respectfully. "G-General Kai and General Oogway, I h-have a message to report."_

 _In the rightmost throne, a huge, armored yak gave him a cold glare. "WHAT did you call us?"_

 _The hawk tensed up. He had forgotten the protocol! "F-F-Forgive me, sirs! General Kai and General Oogway, Supreme Warlords of all China, I have a message to report!"_

 _General Kai smiled. "That's better." He reached out and grabbed the scroll from the terrified bird's wings._

 _"We would be able to relay orders much faster if you didn't insist on being addressed by that title," said General Oogway in the other throne, lightly sipping a cup of tea. Compared to Kai, he looked much less intimidating, a medium-sized tortoise wrapped up in his own, almost redundant, suit of armor. But the messenger was not fooled. He had heard the stories. What General Oogway lacked in stature, he made up for with a cool head and a keen intellect. Combined with General Kai's immense brute strength, they had both well-earned the title of "Supreme Warlord".  
_

 _"It's the principle of the thing," Kai said, unfurling the message scroll. "You'll appreciate it someday when you've got people calling you the "Steel Shell" or the "Terrapin Terror".  
_

 _"I am not a terrapin."_

 _"Details." As Kai looked over the scroll, his expression darkened. "It appears that Magistrate Ming Xian has refused my demands to surrender the Tower of Triumph."_

 _"I cannot blame him. It is a very nice tower."_

 _Kai growled and tossed the scroll over the side, into the raging waters below. He turned his gaze back on the poor hawk, who looked ready to faint. "Fly back to Ming and tell him that unless he wants it to be renamed the Rubble of Regret, he will surrender that tower NOW!"_

 _"Y-Y-Yes, sir!"_

 _"Wait." Oogway held up a hand. "That will not work. He knows you want that tower too much to destroy it."_

 _"Of course I want it! Come on, the Tower of Triumph? That just SOUNDS badass!" He sighed and shook his dead. "You're right. He'll call my bluff. What do you suggest?"_

 _"A siege. The tower is well-protected, but cut off from nearby civilization. If you simply blockade the entrances and cut off the flow of resources, Ming will not be able to maintain his position for long. He will surrender within the week." Oogway smiled softly. "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle."_

 _Kai chuckled wickedly. "I like it." He pointed to one of their own_ _messengers. "You, fly to our troops at the tower and tell them to do what Oogway said." He then pointed back to the outsider. "You, tell Ming to surrender or starve."_

 _"Yes, sir," they answered, one much more nervously than the other. The hawk was familiar enough with battle tactics to know that this plan would work, which didn't speak brightly for his future. Regardless, he wasted no time in flying off again._

 _Kai grinned and turned to Oogway. "Well done! I think you just saved my butt again."_

 _"You must learn from experience, Kai._ _If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."_

 _The yak smiled and nodded, but it was obvious he wasn't really paying attention. "I'm just really glad to have you around sometimes, brother." He reached over and clapped his friend on the back._ _"What would I ever do without you?"_

Quite a bit, apparently.

Kai opened his eyes, having lost himself in whatever he substituted for mediation. He didn't really need to sleep anymore, one of the fringe benefits of being an undead monstrosity. Instead, he just sort of found himself daydreaming every now and then, digging up memories that he would rather stay buried. Perhaps this wasn't such a good place to hide out in. The Black Yak was hardly a deadly warship anymore. Now it was just a long-abandoned wreck, and the sea it once sailed on had become a scorching desert.

Times had changed, in more ways than one. After all, he sure didn't need Oogway anymore, did he?

His eyes glowed. He didn't, and now he would prove it. Tuning in to his soldiers again, Kai smirked as he saw the ornate buildings of Gongmen City around him.

* * *

The Wolf Boss was having a pretty good morning, all things considered.

His pack had already taken full control of the city, and it was easy to see their influence everywhere he went. There was at least two wolves on every block, with the local citizens doing their best to avoid eye contact with them. Anyone who made the error of bumping into one or trodding on their toes was quickly made an example of. The wolves regularly went out of their way to hassle them too, shaking them down for goods and services, or just amusing themselves at their expense. The entire city lived in fear.

And that was exactly as it should be. After the way these people had mistreated them in the past, looking down their noses and showing nothing but disgust to loyal protectors only trying to keep them safe, karma had finally caught up with them. As far as he was concerned, this was justice.

But as satisfied as he was seeing all of this, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Ever since his last conversation with Lord Shen, he just knew that his master was hiding something from him. Not that it was his place to question such things, but as he still considered the peacock a friend, it concerned him nonetheless. This uneasy feeling had only amplified as time went on, his hackles raising multiple times for no apparent reason. His instincts were desperately trying to warn him of something, but what? If it was that serious, Shen would've told him about it...wouldn't he?

As he looked and sniffed around, he didn't pick up anything that would indicate any kind of danger, which should've put him at ease. And yet, his hackles raised again and stayed that way. He reflexively found himself growling, and that's when he knew for sure to get ready for battle.

When he first saw the gorilla out of the corner of his eye, he didn't think much of it. Shen did have a few of the big apes employed, even if the wolves didn't particularly get along with them. He only gave it a second glance when he realized this gorilla didn't smell anything like a gorilla. In fact, it didn't even smell like an animal. Once he finally turned to get a good look at it, he found out why. Because this gorilla appeared to be entirely made of jade. "What the...?"

Unfortunately, his voice alerted the thing and it looked back at him, staring with glowing, soulless eyes. Before his mind could fully register what was going on, the gorilla charged, clearing the gap between them in seconds and backhanding him across the square.

As was often the case when someone attacked an alpha wolf, every other wolf around him instantly retaliated. They didn't fare much better, their bladed weapons only making a few scratches in the gorilla as it tossed them left and right like it was nothing. "Archers, fire!" the Wolf Boss ordered. Lining the rooftops, several more wolves shot arrows down at the beast, which deflected harmlessly off of his body. "Crap! Call in reinforcements!"

It seemed the enemy had the same idea, as several opposing arrows-no, _quills_ -started raining down on his archers. A small green porcupine was the culprit, not even bothering to take cover when their arrows couldn't hurt him anyway. At the same time, a pair of staff-wielding badgers came out of nowhere and started fighting his ground forces. The wolves were holding their own fairly well through sheer force of numbers, but they couldn't keep it up forever against opponents they could barely damage. The pack needed his help.

"Hey, ugly!" The jade gorilla turned around just in time to take his war hammer to the face. It didn't knock his head off like he hoped it would, but it did bash in his face pretty thoroughly. "Wahahaha! Your own momma wouldn't recognize ya anymore!"

The Wolf Boss blocked with his hammer as the now-faceless enemy struck back. The lupine liked to consider himself fairly strong, but not nearly as strong as a normal gorilla, let alone whatever the hell _this_ thing was. And so he found his muscles straining with each attack he blocked. He made a few more dents in the gorilla's tough body, but not enough to stop him from getting pummeled. He was keeping its attention away from the pack though, and that was all that mattered to him.

Just as he thought his arms would give out, the gorilla was suddenly tackled by one of _their_ gorillas. This quickly devolved into a wrestling match, the two apes each trying to overpower the other. No one else dared to get involved.

As the Wolf Boss charged in to help his packmates with the badgers, he was surprised to find another jade statue standing in his way. But not nearly as surprised as he was when he looked up and saw exactly who he was dealing with. He wasn't exactly an expert on kung fu lore, so he didn't recognize most of the attackers, but this one he knew all too well.

His jaw dropped. "That's impossible..."

* * *

"What was that?"

The single wolf bowed down in front of Lord Shen, not sure if was more terrified of him or the jade warriors. "We're under attack, sir! In the marketplace!"

"I see," Shen said, interested, but not quite invested yet. "How many?"

"We've lost about five so far to injury, but I think only one death has-"

"Not _them_ , you imbecile! The attackers!"

His ears flattened. "R-Right. There's about, uh, four, last I checked." Shen just stared at him. "Maybe five?"

He quickly found one of the peacock's knives dangerously close to his throat. "You came all the way up here to bother me about _five_ attackers?!"

"Y-You don't understand, sir! These guys ain't normal!"

"Oh? What are they then? Kung fu masters?" He spat the term out with clear disdain.

"Uh...sort of."

The knife poked into his neck, drawing the tiniest drops of blood. Shen was rapidly losing his patience. "How can they be 'sort of' kung fu masters?!"

The wolf whimpered, knowing he had to choose his next words _very_ carefully. "W-Well they have the skills, but t-they're not of flesh and blood! They're like these g-giant jade things! Our weapons can barely scratch them!"

Shen slowly lowered the knife, staying silent for a long moment. The wolf didn't dare to even breathe. "You are dismissed."

"Thank you, sir!" The wolf took off like his tail was on fire.

Shen turned back to the Soothsayer, who still hadn't said much of anything lately. It was starting to get a little creepy, not that he would ever admit it. She looked away at his gaze. "Is this what you've been trying to warn me about? Killer jewelry? I'm disappointed you think so little of me."

"It is not _them_ you should be worried about," she spoke back.

"Really? Well in the meantime, I'll just take care of this little scuffle then." Shen retrieved his trusty guandao, twirling it in his wings.

"Wait!" the goat called out frantically. "You cannot go! You will be putting your life in danger!"

"Yes, that tends to happen when one goes into battle," Shen drawled back. "If you think I can't handle this, I really _am_ disappointed."

"It's not about your skill," she insisted. "Do not tempt fate, Shen."

"Tempt fate?" He looked back over his shoulder, smiling cruelly. "You are talking to a man who massacred an entire species just because they might have posed a threat to him. I do not merely 'tempt' fate, Soothsayer. I spit in its face and dance on its grave." Without another word, he brandished his guandao and threw himself off of the balcony, gliding down into the city.

The Soothsayer just sat there, overcome with sorrow. Truly, this was out of her hands now.

* * *

 _Lots of headcanon here. I like to imagine that:_

 _A) The abandoned ship Kai hides out in the movie is one of his old warships._

 _B) That desert is the same one the heroes pass through in the second movie, making it relatively close to Gongmen City._

 _C) Oogway the warlord was a calm, tactical genius, who, instead of speaking in philosophical proverbs, constantly spews quotes from "The Art of War". Kai and Oogway as warlord buddies is one of those concepts that is just too fascinating not to write about._


	4. Rematch

_Damn, this is getting followers surprisingly fast. I think I hit that niche of people just getting out of a movie and looking for fanfics on it. XD_

 _There's been a distinct lack of Shen in Shen vs. Kai so far. Let's try and change that._

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Rematch**

Before Lord Shen even touched down in the middle of Gongmen City, he could see the chaos going on in the streets below. Civilians scattered every which way as his forces battled the attackers. It seemed that the wolf he had interrogated was not exaggerating. They really _were_ living jade. He would've found this quite fascinating if not for the fact that they were trying to invade his city. For now, he was content to stab first, ask questions later.

Letting out a peacock's cry, Shen came in right on top of one of the jade warriors, a badger of some kind, knocking it to the ground. The wolf it had been fighting let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir!"

He yelped as a knife flew past his head. "I did not come here to rescue you, fool! What is the situation?"

The wolf saluted fearfully. "The pack is holding off the invaders so far, but we are taking significant casualties. Our weapons are doing little damage to them."

This, Shen concluded, was the problem with using soldiers who had brains the size of a piece of kibble. "They're made of _jade_! Of course your blades won't work! Tell the others to switch to blunt weapons! Aim for their limbs and try to incapacitate them!"

"What about the cannons, sir?"

He almost threw another knife. "I am not using my trump card against a bunch of glorified lawn decorations! Now GO!"

The wolf took off to relay his orders. Hopefully, that would be enough to turn the tide. "And as for you..." Shen stepped onto the head of the downed badger he was still standing on top of. "I don't suppose you want to tell me what you ugly things think you're doing here?"

The badger looked up briefly and actually shook his head at him. "Cheeky." Shen lifted his guandao and stabbed it through the neck of the creature. It didn't cut all the way through, but it went in just deep enough to stick. Shen lifted the other end of the weapon and violently flung the badger away, watching him sail over the roof of a nearby bakery. He heard a loud crash from the other side and smirked.

A quill shot past his head, and he whirled around at once to deflect another two with the guandao. He saw a porcupine archer on the roof above him, already loading up his bow again. Shen flung a flurry of knives up into the porcupine's face, knocking him off-balance. He threw out a rope dart and grabbed onto the creature's ankle, dragging him off of the roof and into a vegetable cart.

Just as Shen was starting to think this would be too easy, the wall in front of him suddenly exploded and a large, furry projectile came flying at him. Only after he kicked it aside did he realize it was the Wolf Boss.

To his credit, the wolf didn't seem to care too much, his mind clearly elsewhere. Shen could tell just from his body language that he was spooked, let alone his frantic words. "Lord Shen! H-H-He's back!"

Shen leaned in close, startling the already-panicked canine. "Who? _Who_ ' _s_ back?"

His question was answered when the rest of the wall crumbled. Shen coughed from the spray of dust and shielded his face with a wing. When he lowered it again, there was someone else standing in front of him. Glaring down at him in all of his imposing glory, was a jade statue of Master Thundering Rhino.

"Didn't I kill you?" Shen asked, in the same tone of voice one would use to question if they had forgotten their house key.

To his surprise, Rhino spoke back, but in a voice that was not his own. "Are you Lord Shen?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Well you should know."

"...Good enough."

Rhino swung his massive hammer, which Shen jumped over, crouching into his stance as soon as he landed. "So we're doing this again, are we? Very well."

Shen threw a few more knives at Rhino that he deflected with his horn. As Shen went in for a kick, Rhino reared back to avoid it, and swung his head forward again to give him a vicious headbutt. Shen landed back on his talons, one wing on his sore face. Master Rhino was already known for his iron defense, and jade was even harder. This one was not going to be so easy. Perhaps he should have prepared a cannon after all.

 _No. The weapon is a tool, not a crutch. I will not depend on it._

Rhino bent down and charged. Shen just managed to roll out of the way as the master flew past him and into another building, demolishing it completely. A few panicking civilians scrambled to get away. "Damn you, this is _my_ city! I am the only one who gets to destroy it!" Shen attempted to stab his guandao into Rhino's back, but the weapon bounced right off. Rhino spun around and struck Shen in the gut with his hammer, sending him flying back several feet. He felt foolish for even trying that when he already knew blades were not going to be enough. He was just lucky that didn't break anything.

"I've got this, sir!" yelled the Wolf Boss, running past him with his own hammer and furiously attacking Rhino. Shen had to admit, it was a courageous move on his part.

Of course, Rhino was a highly-skilled master who had trained in the use of this weapon for years, while the wolf just liked to hit people with large objects, so it was no surprise that he didn't last three seconds. "I'm sorry, sir!" he cried out as he was thrown past him again.

No blades, no cannons, no help. It seemed he was going to have to take care of this on his own. Unfortunately, his physical strength was less than impressive, which left him very few options. Shen glanced around at the surrounding area, seeing the large buildings looming over them on both sides.

As Rhino charged him again, Shen turned around and unfurled his train. Once the master got close, Shen sidestepped at the last second, and the distracted Rhino slammed head-first into another building, leaving a gaping hole. Shen flung a few knives into his back to get his attention again, then dived out of the way as Rhino charged past and crashed into the opposite wall. Recovering more quickly this time, Rhino swung his hammer at Shen in a horizontal arc. The peacock leapt over top, landed on his back and attached a rope dart to his horn. As he jumped back down, Shen took Rhino with him and pulled him to the ground. Rhino got back up, cracked in a few places, but far from beaten, and saw Shen smiling at him from down the street. Grasping his hammer once more, he charged straight at the bird, ready to cave in his skull for good.

Before he even covered half the distance, the two buildings he had damaged both collapsed on top of him.

Shen smirked victoriously. His strength may have failed him sometimes, but his _cunning_ never did.

The sheer weight of all that stone and mortar pinned the struggling Rhino underneath, with only his head sticking out. He was lightly kicked in the cheek by the Wolf Boss, who grinned down at him savagely, clasping his own hammer tightly in his paws. "Guess nobody told you: If you mess with the wolf..."

He lifted the hammer above his head.

"...you get the FANGS!"

He swung the hammer down onto Rhino's neck, and with a sickening crack, his head was separated from his body. It rolled several feet away, coming to a stop right in front of Shen. "Wahahahaha! Did you see that?!" The wolf looked to him with a big, goofy grin on his face, his tail wagging excitedly.

At one time, Shen might have found this endearing. "Yes, yes, good work." He waved his wing dismissively and looked down at the severed head lying in front of him.

"Well that was unexpected," that same, unfamiliar voice echoed out of it.

Shen pointed the guandao at him and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you, and what do you think you're doing in my city?"

" _Your_ city? Ah, I get it now. You're another warlord, aren't you?" He sounded strangely excited about this. "You must know the stories then. I am Kai! Beast of Vengeance! Maker of Widows!"

"Never heard of you."

There was a moment of silence, and Shen got the feeling that he had just seriously ticked this guy off.

Good.

"Don't get cocky," Kai warned darkly. "I've spent decades rolling over arrogant little punks like you. Laugh while you can, but you, _and_ your city, will soon fall."

Lord Shen was not one to ever turn down a challenge, especially to his rule. "If you think you're so tough, then come and get me. In the meantime, take a swim." Without waiting for a response, Shen punted the head straight into the canal.

There were several bright flashes, and Shen saw a small, green orb rise out of the water again. He watched as it flew off into the distance alongside four other orbs. It seemed his underlings had gotten their act together after all. "Hmm. I suppose that's that then."

"Wow, what a nutjob," the Wolf Boss noted. "Soooooo, now what?"

Good question. Much as he hated to admit it, there was indeed a threat. Someone who could reanimate deceased kung fu masters was not one to be taken lightly. Even if he _did_ sound like a pompous idiot. "Assemble your forces at once, and have them search the archives for any knowledge on a warlord named Kai."

If this guy was half as notorious as he claimed to be, they must have a record on him _somewhere_.

* * *

"Woah, what was that?!"

The Furious Five stopped in their tracks and dropped into their stances, ready for battle. They were _still_ trying to reach Gongmen City and the last thing they needed right now was another ambush.

But all they saw was Po staring up into the sky. "Uh...what do you see there, buddy? More evil quills?" Mantis asked.

He looked flabbergasted. "Come on, you're telling me no one else saw that?!"

"Saw _what_?" asked Crane.

He sighed, dejected. "Nevermind..."

"We've still got a lot of ground to cover," Tigress reminded him. "We need to keep moving."

"Yeah, I got it..."

The Five headed off again, with Po trailing behind, totally bummed. He could've _sworn_ he saw some kind of shooting stars just now, and all of his friends missed it! Man, what were the odds he would ever see something that cool again?

* * *

Approximately five seconds after Shen kicked Rhino's head into the water, Kai plowed straight through the hull of the Black Yak and tore off across the desert on all fours. He was moving so quickly and so aggressively that anyone glimpsing this from a distance would be more inclined to think there was a raging sandstorm going on.

Oh, there was raging alright, and it was directed entirely at the peacock prince. Being insulted and brushed off for the second time in what amounted to less than a day was more than Kai was willing to tolerate. He didn't even bother waiting for his wayward chi to return to him first. It would catch up eventually. The more pressing matter was getting to Gongmen City and bashing that bird's smug little beak in. Because nobody made a fool of him and got away with it. _Nobody._

The yak's eyes glowed with fury. "You think you're ready for me, do you?! BRING IT ON!"

* * *

 _I was sorely tempted to name this chapter "Hammer Time", but even I have standards._

 _I don't blame anyone for forgetting that Shen has rope darts seeing as how he used one exactly ONCE in the entire movie. Given the circumstances, they seemed a bit more useful to him now._


	5. Know Your Enemy

_Notice the fancy new format I'm using for my chapter titles? Just a little something I wanted to try out._

 _I hate to keep harping on this, but I have twelve reviews on the last chapter. TWELVE! That is INSANE! Thanks so much for all the support, guys! I know everyone is eager for our two stars to meet face-to-face and...that's still gonna be a bit. Be patient. :P_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Know Your Enemy**

By that afternoon, Gongmen City was back to normal...or so it seemed. On the surface, the city appeared to have returned to its natural, post-Shen state, but closer observation would reveal that the wolf sentries were more alert than usual, and the civilians even more terrified. Everyone was on-edge for another attack.

As a matter of fact, closer observation was pretty difficult because of this, but Kai found a way. For among the usual crowd here in Gongmen was the small form of Master Porcupine, who was not here to fight for once. Ducking between market stands and crawling along rooftops, the archer's only purpose right now was to serve as a convenient pair of eyes.

"Okay okay, now look to your left. Hmm, nothing. Just climb up on that roof then. Careful, don't let them see you. That's got it." Kai himself leaned casually against a tree on the outskirts of the city, his eyes glowing in concentration. At some point during his mad sprint, he calmed down enough to realize that charging headfirst into a city of armed soldiers would not be the brightest idea, not even for him. He still needed a good boost of chi, but Lord Shen himself was clearly going to take a bit more effort than he thought. That didn't mean he couldn't still find something else worthwhile here, something that would serve as easier prey.

Kai frowned. If he wanted easier prey, he shouldn't even be here anymore. Just what the hell was he even doing? This was not how it was supposed to happen. Right now, he should've been sending his forces to capture chi from other, weaker areas, until he was so absurdly powerful that he could bench-press the Jade Palace. That was the plan, a plan he had been stewing over for almost five hundred years. It wasn't the kind of plan you tossed by the wayside just because some jerk wanted to pick a fight, and yet here he was. He would never admit it, but sometimes his pride really got the best of him.

At least Oogway's students would show up sooner or later. That was something to look forward to. Even with his lack of mortal limitations (or a pudgy panda to slow him down), he couldn't imagine they were far behind him at this point. That also meant he needed to work fast if he wanted to get this done.

"Alright, stop here and look around, slowly." Master Porcupine sat atop a roof and swiveled his head, giving Kai an overhead view of the streets below. So far, he hadn't seen anything except a bunch of mangy dogs and cowardly bystanders, neither of which would provide more than a trickle of chi. Whether or not this detour would pay off in the long run, it sure hadn't done so yet. He couldn't shake the feeling that, somehow, this whole thing would be going a lot smoother if he had just followed his gut instead of listening to that- "Wait, freeze!"

Porcupine's head stopped in place, his eyes locked upon a dreary building down below. But Kai was more interested in the sign that hung outside of it. "Gongmen Jail," he smiled. "Now what kind of people would _you_ put in jail, Shen?"

He honed in on the building, sensing a pair of strong chi readings inside, practically gift-wrapped for him. That sign might as well have said "Free Candy".

* * *

"Nothing?! How can there be _nothing_?!"

Wolves scrambled all around the archives of the Tower of the Sacred Flame, an immense library containing every morsel of knowledge Gongmen City had ever collected. Now the wolves were almost literally tearing the place apart in search of some very specific knowledge that was unfortunately not turning up. "It's not _nothing_ per se," said the Wolf Boss, twiddling his thumbs anxiously. "It's more like too much _._ Evidently, 'Kai' is a pretty popular name, 'specially with warlords, so it's kinda hard to narrow it down..."

Shen's eye twitched. "How about you narrow it down to who can and cannot _reanimate the dead!"_

He chuckled. "You know, you'd really think that would be mentioned somewhere," Shen held up a knife and the wolf's mirth vanished, "but it's not."

Shen hissed in frustration and rubbed his forehead. "What about those ridiculous nicknames of his? What were they again...Beast of Inventions? Maker of Windows?"

"We'll check, sir!" The Wolf Boss ran off to join his pack. Somehow, things got even more chaotic, shelves overturned and scrolls sent flying in their violent pursuit of knowledge.

"I don't suppose _you_ know anything?" Shen asked the Soothsayer, who sat in the corner unobtrusively. Lately, they had been on an unofficial "Don't speak unless spoken to" policy.

"I know that your time is running out," she replied sternly.

"Why do I even ask?"

* * *

Gongmen Jail used to be a pretty nice place, all things considered.

For one, it wasn't a jail at all until Shen took over. It used to be a prestigious kung fu academy under the tutelage of the great Master Thundering Rhino. But Rhino was dead now, and his two remaining students were locked up in what was left of his legacy. It was like some kind of cruel joke.

Master Storming Ox was lying on his cot, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Master Croc sat across from him, chucking small pebbles at the wall. Needless to say, they were bored as all hell, but it wasn't like they had any other choice. Seeing Rhino die right in front of them, nothing left of him but a dented hammer, had completely demoralized them. So when Shen threatened to turn that same weapon on the city, they surrendered without a fight. It wasn't like they hadn't reconsidered that decision before. They had, multiple times. But every time they even got a hint of a plan, they remembered the weapon, and it instantly fell apart. That thing was simply unstoppable.

There was a thunderous pounding from outside and they peered through the bars, eager for anything stimulating. They saw the wolf guards perk up, realizing that the sound was coming from the large, wooden doors that marked the entrance. The pounding stopped and a booming voice called out from the other side. "Knock knock."

The wolves gathered at the door looked between each other in confusion. "Uh...who's there?"

"Interrupting massacre."

"Interrupting mas-"

*CRASH*

The balcony obscured their view, but by the sounds of things, the guards weren't doing so well. They heard loud screams, cracking armor, snapping bones, and then the wolves were tossed off of the balcony one by one, landing in a neat pile in the middle of the floor. Before they could even question what was happening, a musclebound yak landed in the center of the pile, throwing the wolves all over the place. None of them were getting back up again.

Catching sight of the two masters, the yak rose back up and started towards them, a pair of glowing green blades scraping the floor as he walked. "Hello, boys. Do you know who I am?" Croc opened his mouth to respond when the yak raised a hoof to stop him. "Actually, don't answer that. It's only going to make me angry." What a strange fellow.

"Whoever you are, just what do you think you're doing here?" Ox asked suspiciously. "If you're here to pull a rescue, forget it! Just get out of here while you still can!"

"Oh, I'm going. And you're coming with me."

Ox growled and slammed his fist against the bars, denting them slightly. "I'd like to see you try!"

Smirking, Kai held up a glowing hoof in Ox's direction.

"Now hold on!" Croc interjected, trying to break up the tension. "Look, Mr..."

"Kai."

"Kai. We would love to get out of here, but Lord Shen has given us no choice but to stay. His new weapon has already taken our master, and he will turn it on the city if we try to escape."

He must have gotten through to this stranger's conscience, as he lowered his hoof and looked at him curiously. "New weapon?"

"Don't tell me you don't even know about _that_ ," Ox grumbled.

Kai was silent for a moment, then smiled at them, nodding in understanding. "You're right, I'm a bit out of the loop. So I'll make you guys a deal. You tell me everything there is to know about Lord Shen and his weapon, and you have my word that you will still be in a prison by the time I leave."

* * *

"Hey, I think we've got something!" The Wolf Boss returned, carrying a scroll in his mouth that he promptly spat out onto the floor. Stepping carefully around the wolf slobber, Shen unsealed the scroll and opened it up. Inside, was a drawing of two figures dressed in suits of armor. One was a tortoise with a calm and thoughtful gaze, his hands clasped behind him in silent contemplation. Shen smiled approvingly. Now _this_ was a warlord of his caliber, an adversary he could respect.

Unfortunately, he was fairly certain he was dealing with the other one, a yak sporting a cheeky grin and giving a thumbs-up. "Is this seriously the one destined to take my life?"

"Why do you even ask?" the Soothsayer replied, a trace of her old personality returning. A part of him, deep down, was pleased by this.

Ignoring her, Shen stared down at the scroll, reading aloud from Kai's entry. _"General Kai, Supreme Warlord of all China, the Jade Slayer, Master of Pain..."_ Shen skimmed through a half-dozen similar nicknames, " _...served as the brawn to General Oogway's brains. His incredible physical strength, along with his mastery of multiple weapons, made him a formidable opponent on the battlefield. Together, he and Oogway formed an unstoppable team that devastated China for decades."_ Shen paused. Something was wrong here. Why was this scroll referring to him in the past tense? For that matter, why did the name "Oogway" sound so familiar?

As he continued reading, he got his answer. " _Their reign of terror was brought to an end when General Oogway fell victim to an ambush and was badly injured. Carrying his fallen friend, General Kai fled the scene of the battle and was never heard from again. However, General Oogway found enlightenment through this experience, and lived on to become Grandmaster Oogway, the founder of kung fu."_

Shen dropped the scroll in shock. The founder of kung fu?! But if Kai had been around before kung fu even existed...just how old _was_ this guy?! "Hey, no worries, sir!" said the Wolf Boss, amazingly making the same deduction himself. "If he's that old, he's gotta be like, super frail! You could beat him in your sleep!"

"He didn't exactly sound like an old man," Shen countered. "Not to mention those jade warriors of his." Come to think of it, none of that had been mentioned at all. Kai must have gotten these abilities after that battle, which meant that this info about him wasn't even complete. Far from it. The most pressing question, of course, was how he had even survived this long. Either this scroll was completely off-base...

...or he had just declared war on an immortal.

* * *

"Wow, and I thought _I_ had issues with pandas," said Kai, crossing his arms. At first, the story of Shen had bored him to tears. Born a bad omen, looked down on by the people, seeking a way to prove himself, blah blah blah. But murder? _That_ was something he could relate to.

He just couldn't believe these two idiots still thought he had come here to rescue them. Granted, it would take a real leap in logic to assume he had come to steal their chi, but come on! He wasn't exactly trying to be subtle here. In fact, he was pretty sure subtlety was physically impossible for him. But the way these two were going, he probably could've just called himself "Master Yak" and they would've bought it.

"For his crime, Shen was banished from Gongmen City forever," Master Ox continued, in a tone that implied he wasn't entirely pleased with the decision. "After that, Shen just disappeared. We got some occasional reports of his activities here and there, but for the most part, he might as well have been dead. He was gone for a very long time." Kai snorted derisively. "And when he finally came back...he brought that weapon."

"What does it do?" Kai asked, trying to disguise his eagerness. Weapons were something else he could really get behind.

"You remember how Shen sought to corrupt the power of fireworks?" asked Master Croc grimly. "His parents were worried for a reason. Shen has turned that power into a devastating projectile weapon, capable of destroying entire villages...or cities." He didn't quite get this whole 'fireworks' thing. Of _course_ fire worked! It always worked!

Ox must have noticed his confusion, judging by the way he was now glaring at him. "Do not underestimate that weapon! Master Thundering Rhino is dead because of it, and you will be too if you try anything stupid!"

He sincerely doubted that, but he humored them anyway and tried to look worried. "I understand. I just have one question."

"What?"

"This 'Master Thundering Rhino' you keep mentioning...does he bear any resemblance to _this_ guy?" Kai flicked an amulet off of his belt and it turned instantly into the jade version of Rhino.

Sure, he probably could've just taken their chi without any hassle, but where was the fun in that? The looks on their faces right now? Totally worth it.

* * *

"Right, so what's the plan?" asked the Wolf Boss, leaning in towards Shen.

He waved a wing to fan away the foul dog breath. "The plan is simple. Return to your patrols and remain on high alert. Inform me at once if there are any more 'incidents'." He clicked his tongue in thought. "While you're at it, tell our forces at the fireworks factory to keep a close eye on the rest of my cannons. I doubt even these jade monsters are immune to explosive weaponry. Go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Wolf Boss and all of his packmates cleared out of the room. If there was one benefit to canine minions, it was that they were generally pretty good at following orders. It was following them _well_ that was sometimes an issue.

Now it was just him and the Soothsayer, yet again. "At the risk of sounding redundant, do you have any advice for me that doesn't involve my imminent demise?"

"No."

"At least you're honest." Shen turned around and started to leave the room when he suddenly stopped himself. Sighing, he glanced back over his shoulder. "...You don't have to stay here, you know. If you believe this is so dangerous, you are free to leave."

Unexpectedly, he found the old goat's arm on his back in a gesture of...comfort? It had been so long that he wasn't sure. She smiled up at him warmly. "If you force me to leave, Shen, then I will leave. Otherwise, I will stay and watch over you, as I always have." Shen really wasn't sure how to react to this.

So he didn't react at all. He just stood there with the Soothsayer, wondering why he was suddenly getting the strangest sense of déjà vu.

* * *

"You BASTARD!" It was like someone had flipped a switch on Ox and now he was insane with rage. He charged straight through the bars of the cage and barreled into Kai, knocking him over. He landed a few punches on his face before Kai kicked him off, hopping back up again. Ox, snorting hot air through his nostrils, came at him from one side, while Croc, equally angered, attacked from the other.

Oh yes, this was going to be _fun._

Kai brought one of his swords up to block a punch from Ox, then the other to deflect Croc's kick. Lashing out, he struck both opponents in the face with the blunt end of the weapons. As they stumbled back, Kai launched a sword up to one of the cages hanging from the ceiling, cutting it down and causing it to land on Croc's head, before he kicked the reptile in the stomach. As the other chain wrapped around Ox's horns, Kai threw him across the room and into one of the wooden support columns, nearly breaking it in half.

He turned around as Croc attacked again with a swipe of his spiked tail. He ducked under it, but the blow still caught his massive horns and knocked him back slightly. Croc lunged, mouth open wide to sink his teeth into him. Kai caught both ends of his snout and, despite having a jaw stronger than a steel trap, easily snapped it shut, then kneed Croc several times in the chin. Dazed, Croc started to feel funny as Kai's hooves glowed and he saw his snout solidify. Kai chuckled with sadistic glee, feeling the chi flow into him.

Ox rammed him in the side and bowled him over, sending him skidding across the room. Kai pulled himself back up and growled at him, his eyes glowing dangerously bright. Time to even the odds.

The once-lifeless statue of Rhino suddenly jerked to life and charged at the recovering Croc, who was so surprised that he took his hammer straight to the face and was flung onto the upper levels. Rhino jumped up after him, leaving the two bovines to square off on the bottom.

Kai swung his blades at Ox over and over, but he stood his ground and managed to block or deflect each attack with his fists. He finally caught both chains and used them as leverage to launch himself at Kai. The yak, having had quite enough of being rammed, jumped over him and spun around, landing back across from him again.

Up above, Croc was near-panicking as Rhino relentlessly swung at him with the hammer, breaking a multitude of crates and barrels in the process. "Master Rhino, what are you doing?! It's me, Croc! Don't you remember me?! Whatever he's done to you, snap out of it!"

"Don't worry, just keep shouting! I'm sure it'll work eventually!" Kai called up. A crate struck the side of his head and splintered. He turned and saw Ox down on all fours, stomping his hooves and preparing to charge again. Now this was just getting annoying. He needed to end it.

As Ox charged, Kai threw out his blades to each side, both slipping through the bars of one of the cage doors, then turning and catching themselves on them. With a furious roar, Kai ripped both doors off and slammed them into Ox's sides. He spun out of control and fell to the floor, neatly wrapped up in a blanket of twisted metal. Kai held up his glowing hooves and watched as Ox slowly disappeared into a yellow light, which soon turned a sickly green as it was drawn to him and entered his body.

"OX!" Croc yelled, horrified. His focus left Rhino for just an instant, but that instant was enough for his former master to blindside him, sending him spinning back off of the balcony. Kai was down there waiting for him, and before Croc could even hit the ground, his body turned to chi and was sucked into him as well.

Kai let out a contented sigh, feeling the surge of power course thorough him, that almost euphoric sensation that made him feel like the biggest badass to ever walk the Earth. He called Rhino back to him as well and looked down at the three jade amulets that now formed a complete set. "See how nice of a guy I am?" he asked, letting his fingers glide across them. "I've brought the three of you back together again. No need to thank me."

* * *

"What the...?!"

The Wolf Boss had only just returned to his patrol when he discovered that, in his absence, something serious had gone down. A literal trail of wolves lied strewn around the streets, all unconscious or worse. Except for one. "Alpha...you made it back..."

He bent down to look the injured wolf in the eyes. He couldn't have been more than fifteen, probably a new recruit. "What is it? What happened here?"

"It was...horrible. We were just out on patrol...when this evil-looking yak just appeared out of nowhere! We didn't stand a chance..."

He felt his fist start to shake uncontrollably, his lips curling into a snarl. "Which way did he go?"

"G...Gongmen Jail..." The teenage wolf coughed, and passed out.

The Wolf Boss slowly stood back up, sensing several more wolves running up behind him. "What should-?"

"Report this to Lord Shen," he said simply, and took off down the street on all fours before anyone could stop him.

This was his fault. He had spent too much time in the tower, and now his pack had paid the price for his negligence. He wasn't going to let this monster hurt his family any longer. Now he knew the face of his enemy, and his name.

"Kai," the one-eyed wolf snarled viciously, "for the sake of my pack, I will tear you limb from limb!"

* * *

 _If you can't tell by now, Kai's twisted sense of humor is my favorite aspect of the character. It's something that distinctly sets him apart from the previous villains, in a way that makes a remorseless psychopath entertaining and lovable. There's just something you gotta respect about someone who goes out of his way to be needlessly cruel for the sake of comedy. Fun fact: I actually spent a good hour consulting two of my friends to come up with that knock knock joke. Truly a sign that I have been wasting my life._


	6. Closer Than Family

_This chapter is going to get a bit...graphic. Nothing TOO gruesome, but this fic is rated T for a reason. Just a head's up._

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Closer Than Family**

Lord Shen climbed the long flights of stairs back to his throne room in silence, lost in thought. What was he going to do about all this? He knew that what he had told the Wolf Boss was a viable strategy, but far too defensive of one for his liking. He felt like he was just hiding in this tower, when he _should_ be out trying to track down Kai so he could finally get rid of this persistent rash that had been so irritating him. Unfortunately, he had very little means by which to do so, and every second he wasted on this was one that could have gone towards preparing his plans for conquest. Because if this loudmouthed buffoon thought he took priority over conquering China, he had better think again. What he needed to do right now was calm down and keep his head where it was supposed to be. After all, he only had to put up with this for three days.

Shen cocked his brow and turned back to the Soothsayer, coming up the stairs behind him. "When you said I would be dead in three days, did that include the day you said it?"

"No."

"So starting today?"

"Starting today."

"Glad that's settled," he nodded. If he was going to not die in three days, he at least wanted to know _when_ to not die.

Finally reaching the throne room, though it could be more accurately called the cannon room at this point, Shen crossed the floor and opened the shutters to the balcony. He looked out at his city with pride. No way was he ever going to let anyone ruin this. As soon as his wolves found something, he looked forward to hearing all about it. Maybe then he could finally squash this cockroach for good.

Shen stiffened as a loud, anguished howl echoed across the city.

* * *

"KAI!"

The yak stopped in place as he came out of Gongmen Jail, seeing a one-eyed wolf standing directly in his path. "You know my name! Thank you! I was really starting to worry that-"

"Shut up." The Wolf Boss grit his teeth and clenched his fists around his war hammer. "I don't care who you are. Anyone who hurts my pack is dead meat."

Despite his threatening tone, Kai just smirked at him incredulously. "Really? _You're_ going to stop me?"

"Yep."

He stifled a laugh. "Okay, let me get this straight. Your boys couldn't stop me. The two kung fu masters back there couldn't stop me. Oogway couldn't stop me. But the wolf with vision problems? Oh boy, I better watch out for _that_ guy!"

With a loud snarl, the Wolf Boss brandished his hammer and charged, taking a hard swing at the side of Kai's skull. The yak casually raised his arm and the head of the hammer struck his outstretched hoof.

The rest of it snapped off in the wolf's paws, leaving him holding what was essentially a pointy stick. Kai clenched his fist and the hammer's head exploded. "Impressive. I had the lowest possible expectations and you still managed to disappoint me." He thrust a palm into the wolf's chest, sending him flying out of the alleyway.

The Wolf Boss hit the ground and tumbled onto his back. Before he could get back up, he felt Kai step down on top of him. "You know what? I don't even _want_ your chi. It's just not up to my quality standards. So take a hike."

Kai stepped off of him and walked away, leaving the wolf to pitifully climb back to his feet. "Hey! HEY! Do not walk away from me!"

He was about to lunge at him again when his sensitive nose suddenly picked up other scents. A _lot_ of other scents. Kai didn't seem to notice until he suddenly found himself surrounded by the rest of his pack, crowding the streets and lining up on rooftops to get to him. They all glared at the yak with a mix of anger and determination, preparing for battle. "You were supposed to report this," the alpha scolded, but he couldn't keep a smile off of his face.

"We did," one wolf said, smiling back. "We reported it to every wolf within earshot." A distress signal, huh? He was so pissed he hadn't even noticed.

"You didn't think we were just gonna let you run off like that, did ya?" asked another wolf.

"Now let's kick this guy's ass!" yelled one more.

He couldn't stop smiling. His family had come back for him. "Thanks everyone..."

He saw Kai's jaw drop, his cocky bravado fading. "Let me share another 'wolfism' with you." He smiled maliciously, cracking his knuckles. "You mess with _one_ wolf, you mess with _all_ of us!"

* * *

 _"Eat this!"_

 _General Kai swung his double-headed spear, knocking down a line of enemy soldiers. Close beside him, General Oogway ducked under a rhino's blade, letting it deflect harmlessly off of his shell. As the rhino attacked again, Oogway sidestepped and tripped him with his own spear, letting his opponent's weight bowl him over. The rest of their troops battled all around them, facing off with the enemy soldiers. Just another day for the unstoppable warlord duo, though this day was looking to be a bit worse than usual._

 _"Brother, watch out!" Kai stabbed his spear into a fox sneaking up behind Oogway. The tortoise immediately returned the favor by leaping over Kai's head and deflecting an arrow that would have pierced his neck. Fighting back-to-back, they held their own as best they could, but the enemy just kept coming. "They've got us surrounded!" Kai shouted. "What do we do?!"_

 _Despite the crisis, Oogway remained as calm as usual. "We must divide their forces."_

 _Kai kicked a gorilla in the groin and headbutted him, toppling the simian to the ground. "Great idea! HOW?!"_

 _Oogway curled his spear around an elephant's trunk and yanked him down as well. "We are fighting too close together. The enemy can attack all of our forces in one place, making us easy pickings. We are greater in number, so we will divide and conquer."_ _Oogway threw a tiger over his shoulder, in Kai's direction. The yak grabbed him and threw him roughly into his allies. Oogway smiled knowingly. "_ _We become one body; the enemy being separated into ten parts. We attack the divided ten with the united one. We are many, the enemy is few, and in superiority of numbers there is economy of strength."_

 _Kai thought it over. "So we just overwhelm them with sheer numbers, huh? Alright, let's do it!"_

Irony could be a real dick sometimes.

"DAMN IT, GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF!" Kai roared, covered in angry wolves. He lashed out with his blades and chi-powered blows, but with every wolf soldier he threw off, three more took their place.

"ENOUGH!" Kai thrust his arms out to the side and a massive shockwave of chi erupted from his body, throwing all of the wolves off at once. Finally having some time to catch his breath, Kai reached down and immediately flung every amulet he had off of his belt. At his command, all of his soldiers engaged in battle with all of theirs, turning the city streets into pure chaos once more.

"Come on boys, get em'!" the Wolf Boss commanded, grappling with the newly-converted Master Storming Ox. They were roughly equal in strength, but the statue had little in the way of brains, so the wolf intentionally fell on to his back and kicked the jade bovine over top, letting it fly into a wall. As he got back up again, he stopped to get a better view of the battle. Astoundingly, his pack was holding their own against the jade warriors, following Shen's orders and using blunt weapons to smash their limbs and beat their heads in.

Kai noticed this as well, and as he started to get swarmed by wolves again, he came to the horrible realization that he might actually _lose_. By this point, the yak had sustained numerous bite and claw wounds, several arrows stuck out of his body, and one particularity lucky spear had been lodged in his side. If he weren't loaded with more feel-good stuff than an opium junkie, he would already be dead again. But even his vast reserves of chi were starting to run low with the amount of soldiers he had created. Only one was left in fact, but no way in hell was he using _that_ one.

As the Wolf Boss looked around some more, he noticed what used to be his hammer laying on the ground a few feet away. As he picked it up again, he came to the conclusion that a pointy stick might not make a good bludgeoning weapon, but it could be a very effective stake. He doubted even _this_ guy would be able to survive having his heart run through.

Seeing how distracted Kai was, he knew this was his chance. "Hey, Kai!" The yak turned towards him just as the alpha wolf charged, pulling the improvised weapon back to thrust it into his chest. "Suck on THIS!"

For a second, the Wolf Boss had the satisfaction of seeing genuine fear in his eyes.

Then there was a bright flash of green and he felt his stake bounce off of a hard surface. When he was able to open his eyes again, he saw the diminutive form of a jade tortoise standing in front of him, blocking his attack.

Before he could react, Kai sent out another, even stronger shockwave, throwing him and the other wolves back. Several of them had been outright knocked out, now lying unconscious around them. He could see that the yak was clearly exhausted now, hunching over and breathing heavily, but he got no chance to capitalize on this. Kai gestured to his jade warriors and they turned back into green orbs, flying in close and forming a ring around the two of them. While the tortoise immediately returned to his body, the rest of the warriors reformed, now creating a solid barrier between him and his pack. He didn't understand why he had made this barrier until he saw that Kai was now staring right at him, not in his usual cocky or jokey manner, but with a dark, hate-filled glare.

"You made me use Oogway."

The Wolf Boss might have responded with a snappy remark if he didn't immediately find himself on the ground again, courtesy of Kai's fist. He was lifted up and thrown roughly into the back of the jade Ox. Kai was on him in an instant, savagely beating him against the surface. He didn't stand a chance. His armor was cracked in several places, but that didn't matter much as most of the blows were aimed at his face, bruising his snout and knocking out a few teeth. One punch connected directly with his bad eye and he let out a scream, clutching the eye and staggering away as blood pooled in his fingers.

He could hear his packmates furiously trying to come to his aid, blocked by the jade warriors. It wouldn't take them long to get past them, but he knew it would be long enough as he felt Kai grab him by the back of the head and slam him face-first into another statue, this one of the gorilla. His nose was broken on impact and tears swelled up in his remaining eye as blood spurted out of his nostrils. Kai followed up with a kick that went straight through his armor and broke a few ribs, sending him to the ground. He struggled to keep breathing, and before he could even try to get up, a hoof stomped down hard on his right arm, snapping it like a twig. He couldn't even scream anymore, only letting out a pitiful whimper as Kai kicked him roughly onto his back. He was an absolute mess at this point, his armor barely staying intact and his fur caked with blood.

Even so, he refused to stay down, and as he attempted to stand again, he couldn't help but smirk at Kai through crimson teeth. "...Not so...high and mighty now...are ya?"

"Shut up." Kai kicked him in the head one last time, knocking him out. He raised his hooves and the Wolf Boss was absorbed.

Kai felt his injuries heal slightly, but he would need a lot more chi than that. He called his remaining soldiers back into him and most of his wounds closed up, the weapons that protruded from his body popping right out and clattering against the ground.

This would have allowed the rest of the wolf pack to charge him again, except for the fact that they had all just seen their alpha get beaten within an inch of his life and then essentially having his soul stolen. It got worse when Kai raised his hooves again and the wolves left unconscious by his earlier attacks were drawn in and taken as well. This extra bit of chi finally restored Kai to full strength, while the wolves just stood there, looking on in silent horror. The yak looked up at them, smiling wickedly. "Boo."

Kai knew that without an alpha, a wolf pack would quickly fall into disarray, and that little demonstration of his power was all the motivation they needed to break ranks and flee, disappearing down the alleyways. He didn't bother going after them. He knew where they would all be heading anyway, and it just so happened to be his next destination.

He looked down at his fists, trembling with barely-controlled rage. There were three things Kai hated more than anything else: being ignored, being humiliated, and being reminded of his place in Oogway's shadow. Lord Shen and his forces had now done all three. That bird was going to _pay_.

He knew that he must be watching, even now. That street brawl had certainly been noticeable enough. Kai threw his head back and shouted into the sky. "YOU'RE NEXT, SHEN!"

* * *

Several li away, perched on the balcony of the Tower of Sacred Flame, Shen scowled. He had noticed alright, and now he was more furious than ever. The Wolf Boss had been his most loyal ally and, at one point in time, a very close friend. This deed was not going to go unpunished.

"What are you going to do?" asked the Soothsayer warily, sensing his anger.

"I'll tell you what I'm _not_ going to do. I'm not going to fly down there and confront him, because that's exactly what he wants." He was angry, but not angry enough to lose his sense of reason. He valued _that_ more than anything else. "The rest of the wolves are returning to the tower. We will prepare for Kai's attack here, where I have the advantage." He couldn't help but hiss in frustration. Once again, he was being forced on the defensive, and it sickened him. The sooner he could put an end to this, the better.

Shen gripped his guandao tightly, staring out into the city where he knew the yak was advancing. "You think you're so mighty, do you? It's about time I showed you the kind of power _I_ wield."

He glanced back over his shoulder at the massive form of the cannon, smiling to himself.

* * *

"Po, hurry up!"

Tigress looked back at the panda, just barely trudging behind them now. This was getting ridiculous. Po knew that they were much farther along than when they started, but Gongmen City just never seemed to get any closer. He was tired, hungry, and his feet were getting all kinds of sore. And he was hungry too. "Come on, can't we have just _one_ more break? What's the rush? It's not like we're missing anything important."

* * *

 _It occurred to me that people might get confused about the whole "three days" thing, so I felt the need to clarify that. It should also be a clear sign that, despite all of this buildup, the story is nowhere near over._

 _I bet most of you weren't expecting the wolves to do as well as they did. As far as I see it, no matter how powerful you may be, you can still be overwhelmed and taken down through sheer numbers. I'm also making a few assumptions about how Kai's powers work, which is sort of required when dealing with the supernatural. I think I'm being pretty logical about it, but let me know what you think._

 _As for Kai himself, I mentioned last time how much I like his sense of humor, but I've been concerned that I was perhaps making him TOO funny. I wanted to show his more ruthless side, and the only way that was going to happen was to give him something he could actually take seriously. When I noticed that he never used an Oogway jombie in the movie, I theorized that he simply refuses to do for personal reasons. So when he is forced to rely on Oogway yet again, he gets...upset. Don't worry, funny Kai will be back soon enough._

 _On a lighter note, this is now the second time I've written about a wolf being beaten to a bloody pulp. Never thought THAT was going to be a recurring theme._


	7. The Battle for Gongmen City

_Here's the longest chapter thus far, and what a chapter it is! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Our two warlords are about to throw down! Place your bets, folks!_

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Battle for Gongmen City**

"Okay, clearly we got off on the wrong foot here. I know we've had our differences, but I'm willing to be the bigger man and admit that I _might_ have...overreacted. So if you're willing to let bygones be bygones, I'd like for us to move past this and to just be a little more considerate of each others' feelings in the future. You help me track down your old master and I'll even give you a bone. Femur, rib, spinal cord, your choice. So what do you say, Fido? Can we be friends?"

Kai extended his hoof towards the jade Wolf Boss, who licked it with his jade tongue. Not the most pleasant sensation, but at least that was settled. "Good boy. Now how about the rest of you?"

He looked over the other jaded wolves he had picked up, roughly a dozen. They perked up at his command and saluted in unison. "Alright then, we're good to go. Let's-oh, hold on, you've got a little something..." Kai reached down to the Wolf Boss and ran his hoof over a large crack in his armor, using his chi to smooth it out. He wouldn't have smacked this guy around so much if he realized how much repair work he was going to have to do. Not that shattered ribs or a broken arm were going to actually affect his performance now, but Kai was, among other things, an artist. You wouldn't show off a smudged painting, would you? "See? That's me being considerate. Now let's get going. I have a score to settle."

Kai looked up at the, admittedly impressive, Tower of Sacred Flame looming in the distance. It was fairly close now, but still a bit of a walk. Glancing around, he spotted an easier alternative sitting next to the jail's entrance. "Hmm..."

* * *

"I know what he's doing."

Lord Shen looked out at the city as the sun began to set, narrowing his eyes as he searched for any sign of Kai. "He's trying to make me wait. It's a psychological ploy to try and break my will before he even arrives. But it won't work."

The Soothsayer remained silent. Judging by Shen's impatiently tapping talons and twitching wings, she believed it was actually working quite well. From what little she knew of this 'Kai' though, she didn't think him to be the strategic type.

She didn't think that Shen would be the reasonable type either, and _that_ was sadly still proving accurate. If he still wasn't convinced that this opponent was too dangerous to face, even after what they had both just witnessed, he simply could not be helped anymore. And as someone who had taken it upon herself to care for and look after him, that hurt her more than anything else. But she would not leave his side. Not until she was given no choice in the matter.

Sometimes, she wasn't sure she even wanted to be a seer. She had felt guilty enough when she made the prophecy that had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent pandas, but that had always been cushioned by the fact that at least Shen was still alive. Banished, and undoubtedly going through difficult times, but alive. That knowledge made her feel that perhaps it hadn't been a complete waste after all. And even if he had returned to face his destiny, even if his defeat to the 'warrior of black and white' had ended in his demise, it would have brought peace to them both. The thought of it still hurt, but it was an outcome she could accept.

But _this!_ This was not the fulfillment of Shen's destiny. This would not bring him peace. Nothing would be gained from this except more mindless destruction. She just couldn't understand why.

Why had the threads of fate changed so much?

What was the purpose of all of this?

 **Wouldn't _you_ like to know?**

The goat jumped, looking around frantically. What...what was that?!

"He's here," Shen growled.

Suddenly, nothing else mattered.

* * *

The first indication of Kai's arrival was the sky, and not just the fact that it was now nighttime, a time appropriately dark and dreary. Something that Kai had come to notice was the way that the sky seemed to become distinctly more greenish whenever he was around. At first, he had thought it to be just another quirk of the Spirit Realm, but he had noticed it happening in this plane as well. Some kind of latent chi ability? If so, then Lord Shen might be more powerful than he thought, as he seemed to be able to turn the sky a crimson red.

One of the first lessons he had learned as a warlord was how effective a good dramatic entrance could be. Gone were the days when he would simply walk up to a city he wanted to conquer and conquer it. Now, he did it with _style_.

Riding in a large rickshaw that faced backwards, Kai was pulled up to the front of the tower by the Wolf Boss, walking on all fours and holding both of his chains in his mouth. Kai held firmly on to the other end, turning a rickshaw into more of a chariot. Following after him was the rest of the jade wolf posse, marching in two neat rows behind him. Looking up, he saw the peacock prince sitting atop the highest balcony, glaring down at him. Clearly, he also had an appreciation for style. Not that it was going to save him.

"SHEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

Shen winced. It was quite telling that, even from this height, he could hear the yak perfectly. He knew his own voice wouldn't come close to carrying that far, so he didn't even bother trying to respond. But it was too much to hope that this would actually made him stop talking. "SO WE FINALLY MEET! AT LONG LAST, I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU WHO IS TRULY THE SUPREME WARLORD! BY THE END OF TODAY-"

Good gods, did this guy ever shut up?!

"-NOT ONLY GOING TO TAKE YOUR CHI, I'M GOING TO TAKE YOUR WHOLE CITY! AND AFTER I DO THAT, I-"

Enough already!

"-GOING TO BE A GLORIOUS DAY IN THE HISTORY OF KAI! THEN I'LL MARCH ON THE JADE PALACE AND-"

Screw this. Shen took a deep breath and cut him off with a piercing peacock's cry. It meant nothing to Kai, aside from a rude interruption, but it meant everything to the legions of troops Shen had prepared. It was the signal to attack.

"Eh?" Kai squinted his eyes as the shutters on every single level of the tower were flung open, revealing numerous armed wolves and gorillas lying in wait. He grinned madly. Fine, if he was so eager to get started...

"CHARGE!"

A rain of arrows flew down from the tower as Kai was pulled forward by the Wolf Boss. He knew they would all be aimed at him rather than the jade soldiers, so he jerked the chains left and right to steer him through the onslaught. A few hit their mark, but that was nothing he couldn't handle. Master Porcupine, and the few jade wolves that happened to be archers fired back, and though they lacked the height and numbers advantage, they had an even better one in the fact that they couldn't be hurt. They fired continuously into Shen's ranks, sending a few wolves falling from the tower.

More importantly, they provided enough of a distraction for Kai to get close enough to bust straight through the front doors. A foolish gorilla had apparently tried to barricade it, and he was the first to be flattened as he and his ride crashed through. Immediately, Kai saw Shen's army rushing down the stairs to welcome him. Lashing his chains, the Wolf Boss took off like the noble steed he was and charged straight up the stairs, followed by the rest of the jade wolves. A few of Shen's wolves hesitated to attack their former packmates, and these were the easiest targets as his soldiers cut them down with no such reluctance. Evidently, old dogs _could_ learn new tricks.

At the top of one flight, he was startled when a gorilla suddenly dropped in from above, grabbing the former alpha wolf and chucking him over the side. Kai growled as the Wolf Boss lost his grip on the chains and fell several stories to the floor below. So much for the free ride. He leapt out of the rickshaw, while kicking it backwards to slide into the troops coming up the stairs behind him, and threw a chi-powered punch into the gorilla's gut. The simian was catapulted up the next flight of stairs, knocking over even more soldiers while Kai followed close behind, swinging his blades to take out anyone who got in his way.

Deflecting a few more arrows with his swords, he realized just how far he still had to climb. Who needed stairs anyway? Throwing his swords upward to stick into the highest points he could reach, Kai launched himself like a slingshot to reach the upper floors. Before he even landed, he spun around and swung his swords out to cut through the lines of archers that had been hassling him this whole time, then finally pulled himself up to the last staircase. Seeing his pursuers coming after him, Kai gave a mocking wave and flung himself up the stairs, intentionally dropping down and stomping on them so hard that they collapsed behind him. They were gonna have a heck of a time chasing after him now.

* * *

"I suppose I'm not surprised."

Lord Shen turned around to face the yak now standing in his throne room. "I'm almost glad my underlings failed. I didn't wish to be robbed of the satisfaction of killing you myself."

Kai's body was marred by a few cuts and stray arrows, which disappeared instantly as his stray chi rose up through the floor and floated back into him. All except for one orb, which he stopped and sent back through the floor, just for insurance. Kai walked into the room, looking around slowly. Pursing his lips, he let out an impressed whistle. "Not a bad place you have here, Shen. Sure beats the heck out of the Tower of Triumph. I look forward to owning it."

Shen walked towards him as well, resisting to urge to start throwing knives already. "Over my dead body."

"Well that was the plan, wasn't it?" Kai asked cheerfully. "Though you won't be _dead_ , per se. You'll just be a fashion accessory. Peacocks are known for their sense of glamour, right? I'm sure you'll make a very nice amulet."

By this point, both warlords had stopped within a few feet of each other. Shen didn't show any sign of intimidation, despite how much his adversary towered over him. "And what do we have _here_ _?_ " Shen was surprised, and a little insulted, when Kai suddenly took his eyes off of him and moved to the left. He forced himself to remain calm as Kai walked up the short stairs to the podium in the center of the room, the one where his greatest invention now sat. "This must be the new weapon I've heard so much about," he said admiringly, running a hoof along its surface. "This little trinket may be an even greater prize."

Shen opened his beak to retort, but he was beaten to the punch. "No amount of trinkets will ever satisfy you," said the Soothsayer, glaring at him. Shen looked at her like she was mad. What was that fool woman doing?!

"Really? And what would you know about _that_?" Kai asked, starting towards her.

"She has nothing to do with this," Shen said, a little too quickly.

The yak's eyes lit up in understanding. "I see. You must be the Soothsayer. Tell me, oh Great Nanny, did you foresee all of this?"

"She did," Shen answered for her. "Let's just say it's been a point of contention."

"I bet." To his relief, he payed no more attention to the old goat and walked back in front of him, smirking psychotically. "I don't know what she told you, but I have a feeling you _really_ should have listened."

Enough of these games. Shen swung his guandao out to the side and crouched down into his stance, preparing himself for battle. "You don't frighten me, you talk way too much, and frankly, you're not that funny."

That sure wiped the smirk off of his face. "No sense of humor, huh? Then let's see how funny you find THIS!" Kai gripped both swords and swung them down at Shen, who turned his guandao sideways and blocked them both. Shen and Kai leaned in and glared murderously at each other.

Then the battle began.

As the two warlords jumped apart, Kai made the first move, throwing both swords in the bird's direction. Shen twirled his guandao, deflecting the first blade off to the side, then catching the second by its chain and stabbing it into the ground. As he completed this motion, he hurled a flurry of knives out of his sleeve, which all nailed Kai in the chest. Against most opponents, that would have ended the battle right there, but Kai looked more amused than anything. He casually pulled out one of the knives, looked it over curiously, used it to comb down some unruly hairs on his mane, and then chucked it aside.

Shen went on the offensive, charging in and swinging his guandao at Kai's stomach. The yak jumped away to avoid the slash and pulled his thrown blades back towards him. Shen caught sight of them and performed a backflip to avoid being sandwiched. As Kai caught his swords, Shen landed in front of him, but before he could attack again, the peacock abruptly spun around and unfurled his train in his face. He reeled back in surprise and instinctively shielded his face, allowing Shen to stab out behind him and catch Kai in the side. He heard a yell of pain and smiled in satisfaction when his guandao came back covered in bovine blood.

As Shen whirled around again, he was unable to avoid Kai's leg as it connected with his chest, knocking him back across the room. As he got back up, massaging a bruised rib cage, he saw Kai tear out one of the room's decorated columns and toss it at him. As it came close, Shen jumped on top of it, running across its surface and leaping off the other end before it even touched the ground. While in midair, Shen tossed out a rope dart, which snagged one of Kai's large horns and pulled him to the floor. With a grunt of annoyance, he cut the rope with one of his swords and tossed it away.

Completely fed up with this, Kai leapt clear across the room, letting out a loud battle cry as he came down with a flying kick that surged with chi energy. Shen rolled out of the way, and the spot where he once stood became a gaping hole in the floor. Before he could fully process this, Kai came at him again, swinging his swords relentlessly. Shen was slowly forced back, blocking the attacks with his guandao, until Kai finally broke through, knocking the weapon out of his wings and grabbing him by the throat. Kai lifted Shen and slammed him into the ground multiple times, hard enough to leave an indentation. But as he let up for a second to gloat, Shen lashed out with his steel talons and caught him under the chin with a slash that would have torn the jugular out of a mortal being.

It still wasn't very comfortable for Kai as he staggered back and clutched his throat, coughing furiously. Shen quickly recovered his guandao and the two stared off again, slowly moving in circles around each other as they looked for an opening.

"Have you two had enough of this, yet?" the Soothsayer scolded, as if she were talking to a pair of spoiled children instead of two people who could easily kill her if they wanted to. "Don't you see that this battle can have no winner?"

"Shen, please tell your nanny to be quiet," Kai requested darkly. "She is old, and I fear for her health."

Shen glanced over at her, while still keeping his gaze firmly on Kai. "Soothsayer..."

"It's alright, you can just ignore me," she said, somewhat bitterly. "You already do."

"Burn," Kai laughed. "But seriously, can we get back to killing each other now?"

"Certainly." Shen shot forward and stabbed his guandao into the ground, using it to vault over Kai's head as he tried to slash at him. He scored another vertical slice down the yak's back, again not cutting as deeply as he wanted it to, and was caught off-guard when Kai spun around and backhanded him across the face. Shen flew back and hit the wall, falling onto his knees and coughing up blood.

This was not working. He had dealt enough damage to kill at least five able-bodied men, but against an opponent who could soak it up so easily, he knew that he would inevitably wear down long before he could do anything lasting.

He had no choice. He needed the cannon.

"PEACOCK PUNT!" Shen couldn't get up in time to avoid Kai as he came in and kicked him under the chin, sending him up to hit the ceiling, then falling back down to be kicked again, crashing against another hard surface.

Kai let out a sinister chuckle, slowly advancing on him. But as Shen looked up wearily, he saw that fate had finally smiled down on him. He was now leaning against the polished surface of the cannon.

"Please, stop this!" Both warlords were distracted again by the Soothsayer, who had quickly shifted from angry to frightened. "This will not resolve anything! You have your own destinies to fulfill. Both of you." She looked back and forth between Kai and Shen, lingering on the latter. Shen saw her give him a reassuring smile, just like the ones he had gotten so long ago, when he had been an outcast in the eyes of people and needed someone to cheer him up. Despite the circumstances, Shen smiled back at her.

"I said SHUT UP!"

He had no time to react. Before he could so much as breathe, Kai threw out a blade, swinging the heavy chain into the Soothsayer's chest and throwing her back, through the shutters...and right over the side of the tower.

Shen was frozen in place as the Soothsayer's final screams echoed up into the room. This...this was not how it was supposed to happen.

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Kai pulled his sword back to him, far too casually for his liking. "Do you think she foresaw _that_?"

Shen had to calm himself again, fighting down the rising fury inside of him. He could mourn later. If he wanted to avenge the Soothsayer, he needed to focus! Climbing up onto the cannon, Shen reached his talons out towards the fuse. The big idiot was standing directly in it's path. All he had to do was light it.

Unfortunately, he wasn't quite focused _enough_ , as he failed to notice Kai's other chain until it wrapped itself around his torso, pinning his wings to his sides. His talons just missed the fuse as he was yanked off of the cannon and into Kai's waiting grasp. Laughing madly, the yak whipped him through the shutters, sending him out into the night sky for just a second before he was yanked back in. Kai kicked him up through the ceiling, punching a hole through the roof, then pulled him down and repeated the process over and over again, turning the tower's roof into swiss cheese.

Finally, the yak suspended the bruised and bloody bird off of the ground like a yo-yo, swinging him gently back and forth. "So that's that," Kai said, grinning triumphantly. "It's been fun, but we all knew how this was going to end. Let me share with you an important lesson I learned a long time ago: No amount of brains will ever stand up to a large enough quantity of pure, unrelenting brawn." Kai raised his other hoof, glowing green with energy. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'll be making _very_ good use of your chi."

Shen held back a squawk of alarm as he suddenly felt a sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt like he was getting weaker, not just physically or mentally, but as if his entire being was being sucked away. The peacock managed to open his eyes and saw his body slowly turning to jade.

No. This was _not_ how it ended!

Fumbling with his sleeve, Shen managed to withdraw another knife. As his wing turned completely to jade, Shen dropped the knife down into his waiting talons. Knowing he only had one shot at this, Shen took careful aim and then flung the knife away.

Kai watched all of this with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. If _that_ was your desperation ploy, I feel sorry for you. Guess you should've worked on throwing with your feet."

"...Just because I'm the brains...that doesn't mean I don't have any brawn..." Shen gasped out, his long neck becoming encased in jade.

"Hmm?" Kai followed the path of the knife and saw it laying haphazardly on the ground next to Shen's weapon. His eyes then caught something else. A small point at the top of the contraption appeared to be sparking, and the opening on the end was now getting brighter and brighter. He wasn't very familiar with modern weaponry, but that thing was looking very activated.

His eyes widened. "Oh sh-"

*KABOOM*

Shen fell to the ground as Kai was nailed in the face with a cannonball, blowing him straight out of the tower. He saw the chains whiz over his head, perhaps a desperation ploy of his own, but they missed him completely and instead wrapped themselves around the cannon itself. The weapon was yanked off of its podium and dragged across the floor until it was finally pulled out of the tower as well. As Shen listened, the yak's furious screams were cut off by a tremendous thud.

Good riddance.

He got back up weakly, still recovering from nearly being drained of chi. He became aware of his other injuries as well, including several damaged ribs, some possibly broken, a multitude of cuts, torn feathers, a cracked beak, and some slight burn scars from the close proximity of the cannon. In all honestly, that maneuver could have easily blown him up as well, so he was thankful to get away with as much as he did. The cannon itself was likely unsalvageable, but that was no great loss. He had plenty more.

He sighed and looked down at the floor, remembering the great loss he _had_ suffered. The Soothsayer, Ah-Ma, as he had once addressed her, was now gone from his life forever. When he had been in exile, he knew, with great certainly, that he never wanted to see her again. Not after she had caused him so much suffering in the first place. But once he returned, and the two had begun to converse again, he remembered what it was that he appreciated about her. Even if she annoyed him at times, and he didn't always agree with her advice, she was always there for him.

Shen's pride took a backseat for a moment so he could admit to himself that he was going to miss her.

"SHEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

 _No. That's impossible._

Shen darted over to the balcony that Kai had fallen over, seeing the yak staring up at him once again. Even from this distance, he could see that he was badly injured, his flesh seared by numerous burn scars, especially around his face. He now lacked a good portion of his mane, and his helmet had been blown off completely. He wobbled a bit as he stood, likely the result of several bones being crushed by the weight of the cannon. Nevertheless, by either the power of chi, or just sheer stubbornness, Kai was alive.

As Shen watched him, unsure of what to do next, he saw Kai begin to slowly spin himself around. He noticed too late that his chains were still attached to the cannon as Kai swung it around in a huge circle. "I THINK YOU DROPPED THIS!"

His breath caught in his throat as the cannon came back around, tearing through the foundations of the tower.

He felt the effects instantly as he was thrown to the floor by the sudden rumbling beneath him. Down below, he could hear the panicked cries of his useless soldiers as they fled the tower en masse, either assuming he was dead or simply not caring. Ingrates.

In any case, he knew he had to get out of here NOW. But flying out directly over Kai would not be the safest option, so he slowly limped over to the opposite side of the chamber, only now feeling the full extent of his injures now that he was forced to move. He tried to ignore the irony of the situation. Him, trapped in his own tower, taken down with his own weapon. At least last time, he had the satisfaction of being on the other end, but now it seemed that fate was being doubly cruel and-

...wait, last time? _What_ last time?

He shook his head in frustration. The last thing he needed to do right now was start losing his mind. As he felt the tower shift beneath him and begin to fall, Shen threw himself off of the far balcony and glided as far as he could.

It was not as far as he hoped. Mid-flight, his right wing cramped up and he found himself veering to the left. He tried to balance himself out and overcompensated, losing his remaining altitude and diving into a slanted roof. He bounced off of the surface and fell to the ground, too exhausted to do anything more than crawl.

So crawl he did, urging himself to get out of the city. He was so close now. If he could just escape Gongmen's boundaries, he could rendezvous with his army and plan his counterattack. Kai was not going to get away with this pain and humiliation. He swore to himself that he would not rest until he had the yak's corpse laying at his feet. He didn't even care if he died anymore, just as long as he took that bastard down with him.

But even his drive for revenge couldn't sustain him forever, and he collapsed to the ground just outside the city bounds. Only able to lift his head, Lord Shen looked up, seeing a dim-looking panda staring down at him curiously.

"Huh. Maybe we _did_ miss something important."

He blacked out.

* * *

"THE CITY IS MINE!" Kai roared, thrusting his fist into the air. The remnants of Shen's army fled all around him, not even attempting to avenge their master. That right there was the sign of a true victory.

It was marred by only three things:

One, he was hurt. Bad. He needed some serious chi to make up for the injuries he'd sustained. As tempted as he was to try and snatch some from the fleeing wolves and gorillas, that was not a battle he wanted to get into right now. But now he had the perfect stronghold from which to send out his own soldiers.

Okay...not _perfect_.

Two, he had let his anger get the best of him and destroyed the really cool tower that he had intended to make into his new hideout. That sucked. _Now_ where was he going to hunker down in? At least there were plenty of real estate options.

Three, Lord Shen had escaped his grasp, either dead or fled. As much as he wanted the bird's chi, that posed little problem. Now that he controlled Gongmen City, he could hunt down Shen at his leisure. Besides...

Kai turned around and smirked to himself as the jade gorilla walked up to him, the "insurance" left behind before his fight with Shen. It proved a worthy investment, as he now held the unconscious Soothsayer in his grasp. Talk about a good catch, literally. Now he had bait.

He stared at the ruins of the tower. "Just because I'm the brawn, that doesn't mean I don't have any brains."

* * *

 _Well, I've really outdone myself this time. I gave you not one, but MULTIPLE cliffhangers!_

 _If you want to split this story into the three days, this is the end of the first, so we're roughly one-third of the way through this thing. What awaits you on the second day? In short, Kai in control of Gongmen, Shen in recovery, and the actual heroes finally becoming relevant again. Along with some answers to the numerous questions this chapter just opened up. Keep in mind that I am always open to wild speculation._

 _By the way...you didn't REALLY think I was going to kill the Soothsayer, did you? :P_


	8. Lord Kai

_Well, I guess I kept you waiting long enough. Now begins the second day, where things somehow get even more hectic._

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Lord Kai**

As the sun rose on Gongmen City, the province found itself with its second new ruler in less than a week. Already one of the most dangerous and unstable cities in China now, the citizens didn't think it could get any worse than living under the tyrannical wing of Lord Shen. But Kai was sitting in the seat of power now, and he used that power just like he used any other form of power.

He abused it relentlessly.

"That's it. Right there." Kai leaned back on the giant bed of rubble that currently served as his throne, being fanned by a sheep while an antelope fed him grapes from a bowl. It wasn't a particularity hot day, nor did he even physically require food anymore, so he really didn't need any of this. But since when had that ever stopped him? "Can I get a little musical accompaniment?"

"Dooooo-dooooo-doo-doo," a nearby bunny strummed on a sitar. "Dooooo-DOO-doo."

"Ah, that's catchy. Hey you down there, I want those things sparkling!" A second bunny polishing Kai's hooves with a rag jumped up in fright and worked twice as fast.

"My lord, I beg of you for aid!" cried an elderly goat farmer from the outskirts of the city, groveling on the ground in front of him. "My crops have not grown for weeks! My family will soon starve if I do not bring sustenance!"

"Hmm...that does sound like a problem," Kai said, listening intently. He closed his eyes in silent contemplation, wondering what could be done to help this poor farmer. The antelope attempted to feed him another grape, but Kai caught it before it could reach his mouth. His eyes grew wide, brimming with emotion. "How can I be so selfish while my subjects go hungry?" With his other hoof, he grabbed the grape bowl and held it up. "Very well good farmer, I shall grant your wish."

The goat smiled broadly. It wasn't much, but better than nothing. "Oh, thank you my lord! I will never forget your-"

He paused as a single grape hit him in the forehead, the one Kai had picked up. The yak threw the entire rest of the bowl into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. "No thanks are needed, citizen. You may take your leave."

The farmer trembled. "But...but..."

"GET OUT!"

He yelped and took off without another word.

Kai dropped the empty bowl next to him and leaned back again, chuckling to himself. That was pretty good, but not quite as funny as that sheep who asked for 'more metal'. She really should've seen _that_ one coming. "This is the life..."

But even though things seemed perfect, Kai found that he wasn't quite getting that feeling of accomplishment that he knew he should have. Sure, he had his own city now, and a few more amulets to add to his collection, but he also had copious amounts of pain, and was rather lacking in a decent place to live now that the former Lord Shen had made him destroy the tower he'd wanted. He was still sore about that, in more ways than one.

And that wasn't even counting his appearance. His battle helmet was gone, the same one he had worn for centuries, allowing his unruly mane to drift down over his face. His mane itself was charred and uneven, with several locks burned right off. His fur was matted and dirty, covered in scars and bruising. In short, he was not very presentable, especially not for the new ruler of a city. "I look like a homeless person!" he complained, glaring into a hand mirror provided by yet another servant. It was a complaint he found bitterly appropriate now.

He sighed to himself. "Well Shen, I took your city, your dogs, and your nanny, while you took my tower and my rugged good looks, so I _guess_ we're even." He was not going to settle for that though. This was where procrastinating had gotten him, and he had already wasted too much time just sitting around and moping about it. It was time for action.

He grabbed a handful of amulets off of his belt and threw them to the ground, watching as they transformed into the trio of Ox, Croc, and Rhino, along with Porcupine and the Badger Twins. The mortal servants were petrified at the sight of them, especially the former Masters' Council, but Kai ignored them. "Go out into China and bring me every kung fu master you can find! _Except_ the Jade Palace ones! They've already proven too tough for you to handle." Besides, they would soon be coming right to him anyway.

Unless they were frightened away by the falling tower. Crap, they might've noticed that.

The jade soldiers all ran off at once to perform their assigned duty. Kai hated how much weaker he felt already, even though he was still several leagues above anything his mortal self could ever do. Immortality had a way of tainting one's perspective. "It'll all be okay," he told himself, trying to calm down. "Just gotta get more chi. A LOT more."

In the meantime, he felt the need to amuse himself a little more, and he knew just the way to do it. Getting up again, and knocking over the hoof-shiner in the process, Kai brushed past his hapless servants and went out into the streets. The rest of the populace wisely stayed out of his path, while also keeping a wide berth from the jade wolves he now had patrolling the streets. He trusted them a lot more than he trusted what was left of the royal guard, now just a bunch of spineless antelopes. No matter. He would find a use for them sooner or later. He would find a use for everyone.

He _was_ tempted to just drain the entire city in the hopes that their combined chi would be enough to restore him, but then he would be ruling a ghost town. If he wanted to be stuck in isolation with no one to fear and respect him, he would've just stayed in the Spirit Realm.

As he returned to Gongmen Jail, he didn't even bother with style this time and just kicked the doors open. There was only one person in here anyway, now the jail's sole prisoner after he cleared out the rest of the riff-raff. The Soothsayer was so frail that putting her behind bars almost seemed like overkill. Then again, she _did_ survive a fall from a hundred-foot tower, albeit with his assistance. Clearly, she was tougher than she appeared.

He was especially impressed by the way she looked up at him, perfectly calm and collected. For a guy who had almost killed her, that took serious guts. "How may I be of service, Lord Kai?" she asked, sarcastically, but with enough politeness for him to overlook that. She was good.

He just hoped that her talents had not been exaggerated. "I want you to tell me about my future."

* * *

It seemed like such a simple mission at first.

The Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five had been tasked with destroying Lord Shen's weapon and bringing the ambitious warlord to justice. It was the kind of mission the Five had completed by themselves numerous times in the past, so by all logic, they should've already been heading home by now to enjoy a victory feast at Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu.

Then there was the attack on the boat, and the unwelcome interruption of that blowhard Kai, who had set them back for more than a day and cost them most of their supplies. Even so, they figured that once they actually reached Gongmen City, they could get things back on track again. That was, until they ran into an injured and unconscious Shen lying on the ground outside the city. Needless to say, that put quite a snag in their original plan.

It didn't take long to confirm his identity, not with the reports they had gotten about his physical description. There weren't a lot of white peacocks in the world, let alone China. But while it was tempting to just turn him in to the Imperial Army and call it a day, there were far too many unanswered questions to just leave it at that. For starters, what had caused such a dangerous threat to wind up like this in the first place? As soon as they saw the city's famous Tower of the Sacred Flame collapse, they knew it had to be something big.

For obvious reasons, they didn't yet feel safe venturing into the city itself, so they instead took Shen into a nearby cave to rest for awhile until he woke up. Po, who had done almost nothing but complain for the last third of the trip, fully approved of this plan. Shen was laid down in the corner, with Po and most of the Five watching over him. They didn't have anything to tie him up with, but in his current state, they doubted that would be a problem. Worst case scenario, Mantis could paralyze him in a heartbeat.

They did however, check him for weapons, finding quite a lot more than they expected. By the time they were done, a large pile of knives and rope darts sat on the ground, as far away from Shen as possible. They had also removed his metal talons, wincing when they saw that they covered some rather nasty burn scars on his feet.

"Man, is this guy a mess or what?" Mantis asked, looking over the peacock and assessing his injuries. "What could have taken someone like _this_ down?"

"That's what we need to find out," Tigress stated. "Monkey, you and Viper sneak into the city. You two are the most equipped to finding out what caused this without being caught. As soon as you do, come right back here, got it?"

"Can't we just wait until he wakes up?" the simian protested.

"Sure, if you _want_ China to be destroyed while we sit here and lollygag. Now get going!"

"Got it," said Viper, grabbing the more reluctant Monkey by the ankle and practically dragging him out of the cave.

"Okay okay, you can let go now!"

The place got a lot quieter as soon as they left.

"So now we just wait?" asked Crane.

"Fine with me." An exhausted Po flopped onto his back and passed out almost instantly.

In the middle of checking Shen's wings, Mantis glanced up to see Tigress still glaring daggers at the bird. "Not that there's any real medical knowledge to back it up, but he'd probably be more inclined to awaken if you weren't sending all those death vibes at him."

"He is a dangerous criminal and requires constant vigilance," Tigress replied simply, not so much as blinking as she kept her eyes on the unconscious peacock. "I hope you wake up soon, Shen," she growled. "You have a _lot_ to answer for."

* * *

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

The Soothsayer carefully set up her tools in the center of Gongmen Jail. Kai had been "generous" enough to get them for her, by which he meant that he just sat there while his newfound servants got them for her instead. The yak watched her prepare with a curious fascination, no doubt eager for whatever she would foresee. There was even less doubt that he would also be disappointed by the result. That's how it always went with his type. Regardless, she saw no point in resisting, and so she decided to divine for Kai, just as she had done for Shen.

 _Exactly_ as she had done for Shen.

"I see...pain."

"OW!"

"And anger."

"What the heck?! You can't just rip a guy's pants like that! You're not _nearly_ young enough to get away with it!"

"Then an empty threat."

"Look lady, you had better get this done or I'm going to have to consult some maps just to find a higher building to chuck you off of!"

"Very well." Throwing the yak's fur and a piece of his pants into her bowl, the Soothsayer added the powder to the mix and watched as the blue flames rose into the room, falling into a trance as her divine sight took over. To her, these were not merely flames, but a message. A message that would tell her the spirit warrior's future. Kai was uncharacteristically quiet, waiting for his prediction with silent awe.

"I see...I see..."

She frowned. This was certainly not what she expected. "I see you...in the Spirit Realm...waging a fierce battle...with a dragon..." The flames came together to form the image of Kai facing off with a much larger image of a dragon, opening its mouth wide as if to swallow him whole. It looked like the kind of thing you would see out of some heroic legend, except that Kai was certainly not a hero.

As the flames faded away and she was reoriented with the mortal plane, the Soothsayer looked over at Kai, unsure how he would react. Kai didn't look so sure himself, his expression going back and forth between excitement, confusion, thoughtfulness, and denial. There were many questions that could be asked about such a prophecy, but he had only one. "Do I win?"

"It does not say. The future is yours to sha-"

"It was a rhetorical question. Of course I win," Kai said, as if that were just common sense. "But while killing a dragon _does_ sound pretty badass, there's no way I'm going back to the Spirit Realm. Ever." He shook his head, disappointed. "Sounds like a dud to me. Oh well."

He shrugged indifferently, leaving the Soothsayer surprised by his decidedly _non_ -hostile reaction. Then she remembered that while Shen had wanted a prediction to secure his future, Kai wanted it just to amuse himself, and amused he was. The yak's eyes suddenly flashed and he grinned at her. "Excuse me for a moment, I think I have a delivery." Kai leapt up onto the balcony and exited the prison, without actually bothering to lock her back up again, or even close the front doors. She returned anyway, knowing that trying to escape the city on her own would be pointless.

Despite her profound insight into these matters, she couldn't make a lick of sense out of Kai's prophecy. If she didn't know better, she probably would have dismissed it as well. All she could do now was ponder what it could mean. It seemed she would have plenty of time to do so.

More pressing was the matter of Shen himself. She knew for a fact that he was still alive, she could feel it in her bones, but her lack of knowledge about his present condition still made her anxious. It reminded her of those long years when Shen was in exile, except that she was merely _uncertain_ about his safety back then. Now she knew for a fact that he was in danger, she just didn't know to what degree.

She wasn't used to being so ignorant.

"Oh Shen, wherever you are, I hope you are alright."

* * *

 _If Shen could hear her, he would have responded, with a hint of contempt, that this depended greatly on one's definition of 'alright'._

 _Of course, he also would have wondered how she was still alive. For that matter, he wasn't even sure if HE was._

 _When Shen opened his eyes again, he found himself floating. Not merely gliding, certainly not flying, just...floating. He was surrounded by a void of pure blackness, no sign of land anywhere in sight. Not that he was particularly concerned about THAT of all things when he appeared to literally be in the middle of nowhere. Could this be the mythical Spirit Realm? No, it seemed far too empty and soulless to be a land for divine kung fu masters, of which he was neither. That led him to only one other conclusion..._

 _"No! I can't be in Hell yet!" he screamed into the empty void. "I still have two more days!"_

 **Indeed you do.**

 _He froze. A voice had spoken to him, one that was deep and sinister. Looking around the void, he couldn't find the source of it, the voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. He initially thought that he simply couldn't see the speaker through this oppressive darkness. Then he realized, to his horror, that the voice had echoed from within his own mind. "W-What are you-?"_

 **Two more days and your time is up. You better hurry, Mr. Shen.**

Shen's eyes snapped open.

He gasped in relief when he realized that he had only been dreaming, though that feeling quickly passed. Most people would have been deeply frightened by an experience like that, but Shen was more pissed off than anything _._ What the hell kind of twisted nightmare was that?! Was he not stressed enough already without his internal demons haunting him in his sleep?!

But as he finally got a look around him, his eyes met the cold glare of Master Tigress, and he found that he had escaped one nightmare and awoken to another.

* * *

"What do you mean Gongmen City was invaded _again?!_ "

Grandmaster Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose, his famous eye twitch beginning to make itself known. "Are you sure you didn't just get a repeat message?"

Zeng, the perpetually-frazzled messenger goose of the Jade Palace, stood before him. "N-No Master Shifu! The report made it very clear that this is the work of another warlord, a yak named Kai. He was seen entering the gates of Gongmen, and then the Tower of Sacred Flame collapsed. He appears to have taken full control of the city."

"And Lord Shen?"

"Last seen fleeing from the falling tower."

"I see..." Shifu took deep breaths to calm himself. Of all the terrible luck, why did _another_ warlord decide to go and get involved now? Was Shen's weapon really such a tremendous prize? But then, how could he have gathered an army and launched an attack so quickly? Could this have just been an unfortunate accid-

Shifu stopped himself, knowing exactly what Master Oogway would have said about that. However it happened, there must be some reason behind it, and that reason was now up to him to uncover. If only he had more information on this other warlord. "You said his name was Kai?"

"According to the report, he shouted it repeatedly before the start of the battle, Master Shifu."

Certainly a solid confirmation. Anyone _that_ full of themselves would never lie about their identity. The only problem was that he had never even heard of this 'Kai', but that was a problem which could be remedied. "Thank you, Zeng. If you're looking for me, I will be in the scroll room...for likely a very very long time." He repressed a sigh and walked away. Being the master of the Jade Palace was more difficult than people gave it credit for.

But he would not fail. Whoever this new enemy was, he would know soon enough.

* * *

 _Kai is not a villain who settles for victory. He has to rub it in and make that victory as humiliating as possible for his opponent. When you take that principle and apply it to an entire city, the result is...this. And believe me, it's only going to get worse from here (or better, depending on your perspective)._

 _If this chapter confused the utter crap out of you, good. That was the intent._ _The story is going to get a little less straight-forward from here on out. Either you will find these developments even more interesting than before, or you will be turned off completely. I must admit, there were actually two particular points in the last chapter that I expected people to be a lot more curious about, yet not a single person commented on either of them. (And no, I'm not saying them now.) So I for one am certainly interested in how you will react to certain upcoming events. :P_


	9. Tension

_Yes, I intentionally timed this update to coincide with the UK release of KFP3. Now those of you who have read up to this point without having seen the movie can finally get a sense of closure. Frankly, I'm amazed I even got such people to read this in the first place._

 _On that note, I have a special announcement to make: This fic now has a TV Tropes page! I didn't have any real reason for it, except that I happen to be an avid Troper and just felt like it._ _So if anyone else happens to be addicted to that site, feel free to hop on over and contribute to it (note that the actual page is just titled Shen Vs Kai). Any help would be appreciated, because I feel a little tacky troping up my own fic. :P_

 _As for the actual chapter...probably nothing too surprising this time, but we'll see where things go from here._

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Tension**

"Where...where am I?!" Shen demanded, his eyes still adjusting to the new surroundings.

Looking down at himself, he could see that several bandages had been applied to him, a few of which still had noticeable bloodstains. There were also some acupuncture needles sticking out of him, presumably to help him heal. Not that he was grateful for any of this. He didn't even care that the people around him were clearly not his own. As a noble, he naturally expected everyone to submit to him without question.

Master Tigress, of course, did no such thing. "You're not in prison if that's what you're wondering. Not _yet_ anyway."

Ignoring her, Shen attempted to get up, and immediately collapsed again from his injuries. "Woah there!" Mantis scolded. "What do you think you're doing? You're only going to get even more hurt if you try to move right now."

"And if he tries to escape, I'll make sure he never moves again," Tigress threatened.

"That's what I meant."

"Fine," Shen conceded, knowing that he was in no position to try anything yet. He could already see his weapons lying in the corner, too far for him to reach. Not that he was completely giving up on the idea, he just needed to wait for the right opportunity. "So who are you people?"

"The masters of the Jade Palace," said Crane, standing over him. "You know, the guys you're trying to endanger with your new weapon?"

"Hmph." Shen was unconcerned, not even looking at any of them. "In that case, why _aren't_ I in prison?"

"Good question," Tigress answered, scowling. "Unfortunately, our mission was not just to stop you, but to protect Gongmen City. So tell us Shen, what happened to you and your precious weapon?"

They were smart to have disarmed him, Shen noted, or he might have torn the uppity feline's throat out right there. "And _why_ , pray tell, should I tell you anything?"

"Because if you don't, your time with us is going to be a lot less pleasant."

He scoffed. "Please. I know your type. You masters are too 'honorable' to resort to anything messy. The fact that you went through all of this trouble to care for me only proves it. You've got nothing. No incentive, and no-"

He trailed off as his eyes caught sight of a fifth person inside the cave, previously unnoticed due to the fact that he was sleeping in a curled up lump on the ground. He was a panda, a species he had thought he would never see again. Even with the Wolf Boss's warning, he wasn't any less surprised to see one of those fat, disgusting creatures snoozing away next to him without a care in the world. He might not have had any logical reason to kill the bear anymore, but he still found himself subconsciously hating him with every fiber of his being.

A strong paw slapped him across the beak. "Focus, Shen!" Tigress snapped, extending her claws.

Before all hell could break loose, Crane hurriedly stepped in front of her. "Hold on, let's not lose control here." He turned around to face Shen. "Look, we know you're not going to let yourself be beaten just like that. We have every interest in stopping whoever did this, and you can help us do it."

"I don't _need_ your help!" Shen yelled, almost lashing out in fury. A part of him admitted that he very much needed it, but that part was buried so far underneath his mountain of pride and arrogance that it was barely noticeable.

Mantis shook his head. "I don't know guys, he seems pretty adamant about not being cooperative. Maybe we should just wait for Monkey and Viper to report in."

Shen turned his head towards him. "You mean there's more of you?"

"Yeah, we sent them into the city for reconnaissance," Mantis said, wondering why he cared.

"Then I'm afraid there is no chance of you getting any more information."

"And why is that?" Tigress asked, looking close to smacking him again.

The peacock smiled at them cruelly. "Because there is no chance of them coming back alive."

* * *

"A chicken?"

Kai had been excited, almost giddy even, when he learned that his forces had already captured another kung fu master. But seeing that master now, a pudgy, red-feathered rooster clucking at him indignantly, he couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. "You will not get away with this injustice!" Master Chicken proclaimed, held firmly in the grasp of Ox and Croc. "Someone _will_ stop you!"

"You know, it's amazing how many times I've heard that, and yet here I am." Not even bothering with anything else, Kai raised his hooves and watched the barn fowl become his.

"BAGAWWWWWWWWWWWCK!"

Kai closed his eyes, feeling the rush of new chi again. Knowing that he sorely needed this boost right now, he was more than satisfied with this master's chi, quite a bit more than he expected. As the chi spread throughout his body and healed him, closing up wounds and mending bones, he suddenly didn't feel that constant pain anymore. He still _looked_ like crap, but at least he was restored internally. "Cock-a-doodle-do," he smiled, flexing his fingers appreciatively.

Several feet to his right, a pair of heads ducked down behind one of the surrounding walls.

"This...is bad. This seems bad to you, right?" Monkey asked nervously, crouched up against the wall with Viper.

"Very," the serpent replied, her tongue flicking out in apprehension. "We need to report this _now_."

"Good idea."

"Yeah, good idea."

The two masters stiffened, then leapt away as the wall suddenly burst open behind them. Smirking deviously, Kai stepped out of the resulting dust. "Word of advice: The next time you spy on someone who can sense chi...actually, scratch that. There's not gonna _be_ a next time."

He looked back and forth between the two masters, his smirk growing much more sinister. "Ah, the masters of the Jade Palace. You've finally made it. Welcome to my city."

"Kai," Viper hissed. "We should've known it was you. So you've taken over Gongmen City now?"

"Actually, I was thinking of calling it 'Great Kai City', or maybe 'Kaiopolis'. 'Shi Kai De'?" Kai pointed one sword at them, tilting it to the side. "It doesn't matter really. What matters is that it will soon be known as the city where Oogway's legacy died. Starting with you."

"What do you know about Master Oogway?" asked Monkey.

He lifted the amulet from around his neck, letting the masters get a good look at it. Kai watched their expressions slowly turn to horror as they recognized the distinct shape of the tortoise. "More than you _ever_ will." His eyes flashed, and the entire force of jade wolves came in to surround them.

"Run!" Viper shouted, darting right between the legs of one wolf. As the wolf looked down in surprise, Monkey leapfrogged over his head and took off as well.

Kai didn't go after them right away. Now that he finally had the numbers advantage again, he simply pointed one glowing finger at the retreating masters and shouted to the wolves.

"FETCH!"

They took off in an instant, rushing past Kai so quickly that the wind rustled his mane a little.

"Are those Shen's wolves?" Monkey asked, looking over his shoulder mid-sprint. Sure enough, the jade lupines were right behind them, and quickly catching up.

"Not anymore." Viper leapt between the jaws of a wolf that lunged at her. "Now they're worse."

"Least they don't talk," Monkey said, kicking away a wolf that attempted to bite into his tail.

Viper wrapped her coils around a wolf's leg and threw him into another. "No, but they also don't breathe, tire, or feel pain."

"Wait, are you saying that all of this running is pointless?"

"Not if we can shake them."

"Can we?"

"Watch." Viper slithered under a large vegetable cart as a few wolves closed in. Throwing her body weight up into the bottom of the cart, she flipped it over, spilling produce directly into their path. Those that didn't crash right into it ended up tripping over the slippery vegetables instead.

"Not bad," Monkey said approvingly. "But how about _this?_ " Without warning, he scooped up Viper and tossed her onto one of the slanted roofs above. He was quick to jump after her, while also kicking several roof tiles into the wolves below.

"Guess these ones aren't made from guys who can make rooftop leaps," Viper noted, only slightly annoyed at Monkey for throwing her.

"See? You were all worried over nothing. Now let's get out of-" He stopped as one wolf finally climbed up to their level. The jade Wolf Boss made a growl that sounded more like the clinking of metal and cracked his nonexistent knuckles threateningly.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who hammered Po in the face?"

"Right now, he's the guy who's in our way," Viper said, narrowing her eyes in determination.

The serpent shot forward just as the Wolf Boss did, the canine immediately taking a swing at her. His arm missed his target and plowed straight through the roof instead, getting stuck momentarily. Viper used this chance to dart up his arm and wrap herself around his jaw. As he yanked his arm back out and tried to pry her off, Monkey charged in and delivered a flying kick to his chest. The Wolf Boss skidded back until he was dangling over the edge of the roof. Viper extended her tail and lashed him across the face, giving him the final push. She tried to jump back off again, but the wolf grabbed her as he fell and she was pulled down with him. She just managed to sink her fangs into the edge of the roof, and hoped that the resulting cracking sound came from the tiles.

"Hold on, I've gotcha!" Monkey reached the edge just as Viper lost her grip and jumped off after her, grabbing hold of Viper, still being held by the Wolf Boss, while dangling from the roof by his tail. Between this awkward position and their combined weight, it was no easy task, and he knew he couldn't keep it up for long. "I-I'm slipping!"

"Let go!" Viper yelled, in a lot of pain herself from being stretched out like this. "You have to tell the others what happened!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"You have to!"

Monkey felt his tail almost slip off completely. Any second now, they would both be pulled down and captured. He could already see the rest of the wolves gathering below them, snapping their jaws and jumping up at them greedily. There was no other choice. "...I'm sorry."

He let go.

Monkey shut his eyes and looked away as he pulled himself back up. He didn't want to see the look on Viper's face as she was carried off by the wolves, but that didn't stop him from hearing her panicked screams. No, he did the right thing. If he hadn't let go, he just would've been taken as well. Now he could escape and bring his friends the information they needed. He would not let this sacrifice be in vain.

But when he turned around to flee, he found Kai standing directly behind him. "Huh. I thought for sure you wouldn't let go."

The last thing Monkey saw was a flash of green, and then...nothing.

* * *

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?!" If Tigress was angry before, she was perfectly exemplifying the name of their group now.

"It means that your friends are not coming back," Shen said unsympathetically.

"I refuse to believe that!" she snarled, digging her claws into the ground. "Monkey and Viper are highly-skilled kung fu masters. They _will_ come back!" The other two masters, Crane and Mantis, wisely decided to stay out of this.

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Will!"

"Technically, you're both right."

Everyone spun around to the mouth of the cave, where Monkey and Viper now stood. Except it wasn't really Monkey and Viper. "That also means you're both _wrong,_ but who am I to crush your optimism?" Kai's voice echoed out of both jombies simultaneously.

Everyone jumped at the sight, except for Shen, who just shrugged.

"No..." Crane gasped.

"You turned them into jombies too?!" Mantis yelled.

"Jombies? Is that what you're calling them? What a ridiculous name." They derisively shook their heads in unison.

"How did you find us?!" Tigress demanded, hiding any feelings of sadness under her overwhelming anger.

"Seriously? I just told these guys to find their friends and they did. Wasn't even that hard."

The jombies diverted their glowing eyes, focusing now on the one sitting behind them. "But I didn't think you would have Shen with you too. That just makes this all the more convenient. Hand him over."

"I don't think so." Crane stepped in front of the other avian defensively, quickly joined by Tigress and Mantis.

"Why not? You can't tell me you _enjoy_ babysitting the royal pain in the ass." Shen hissed at him.

"No, but if you want him, that's reason enough to not let you have him," Tigress said. "So I suggest you leave now. It's four against two."

"Four? I don't think Shen's in any shape to fight right now," Mantis pointed out.

"No, I meant—oh, for the love of—would someone wake up Po?!"

Po snoozed away peacefully in the corner.

"So you brought the panda too. Now that _is_ convenient!" Kai laughed, having just noticed him. "You're right though. The odds aren't in my favor right now. I just wanted to see what hole you rats were hiding out in. Oh, and Shen?" The peacock grimaced. "Your nanny says hi."

The two jombies took off into the trees, Kai's laughter echoing behind them.

"Wow, what a dick," said Mantis. "Hey Shen, what did he mean by that?...Shen?"

The former lord was hunched over, not paying attention to any of them. He wasn't sure what he was even feeling at the moment. It was some bizarre mixture of relief and dread. Yes, it pleased him greatly to know that the Soothsayer still lived, but knowing that she was being held hostage by that maniac didn't exactly put him at ease.

All he knew was that he had to rescue her. He owed her that much. "I have to go."

He managed to stand himself up, only to be immediately stopped by Tigress. "Go _where?_ Do you really think you're going to march back into that city by yourself?"

"Of course not." Shen slapped her paw away, a move that made the other masters flinch. "I'm going to track down my renegade army first. Then I will plan my revenge. _Without_ your help."

"Sorry to say, but you're not going anywhere without our 'help'," said Tigress, standing her ground.

"You dare defy me?!"

"Considering we took all of your weapons? Yes, I dare."

"Did you now?"

Before anyone could react, Shen wrapped up Mantis in one wing and pulled him to his chest, the other wing putting an acupuncture needle to his throat. "Aw man, I _hate_ irony!"

Tigress bared her teeth. "Let him go."

"I don't believe you're in a position to bargain anymore," Shen said darkly, drawing the needle even closer. "So now that I've gotten your attention, here's how this is going to work. First, you hand over the rest of my weapons. Then I take the bug and leave. Once I've found my army, I'll let him go."

"How do we know you won't just kill him anyway?" Crane asked.

"You don't, but I'm certainly willing to kill him right now if you keep stalling. Wouldn't want to lose any more of your friends, now would we?"

Tigress looked like she wanted to rip him apart, but remained still. "Why...you...!"

"Urrgh...wha's going on?" Po stirred and finally woke up, catching the attention of everyone in the cave. He immediately knew that he had awoken at a bad time, especially with the way Shen was now looking at him.

"Greetings, panda."

* * *

 _If you're wondering where all those medical supplies came from, I like to imagine that the masters carry some of that stuff around, just in case of an emergency._

 _I was considering having Monkey actually escape in that scene, but I found the opportunity for Kai to be a massive troll, to the characters AND the reader, to be too alluring to resist. (Edit: And yes, Viper does have fangs in the movies. I always assumed she was just a late-bloomer.)_


	10. The Enemy of My Enemy

_Say hello to my sweet new cover image, courtesy of DONOVAN94! Thanks again for helping me out. I had to mess with it a little to get it to fit as a cover image, but the unaltered version is now on the aforementioned TV Tropes page._

 _Damn, I'm on a roll right now! I am super-motivated to keep cranking this thing out._

 _...Now all I gotta do is actually get motivated for my OTHER fic again! Next update, I swear._

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Enemy of My Enemy...Is Still Kind of a Jerk**

"Hey!" Po leapt to his feet in an instant and got himself battle-ready. "No one hurts my friends and gets away with it! Prepare to taste justice!"

"Woah, woah!" Mantis waved his thingies frantically from within Shen's grasp. "Hostage situation! No one's tasting justice right now!"

Po's enthusiasm drained away. He hadn't been trained for this situation. "...Oh. What are we tasting then? Panic? Despair?"

"We are currently trying to figure that out," Tigress answered as patiently as she could.

"So is it more a taste of uncertainty then? Or maybe it's nervousness with a side of anger-"

"Will you _shut up?!_ " Shen snapped, unfurling his train in frustration.

This proved more effective than he expected. The panda, whom the others had called 'Po', suddenly reeled back in shock, his eyes growing wide as he stared at the distinctive markings on his train. He knew those markings could be intimidating, but he hadn't expected _this_ strong of a reaction. The panda seemed to be completely transfixed, and when he finally spoke again, Shen had a feeling he knew why. "You... you were there."

 _"Yes...yes I was."_

 _As the panda continued to stare at him stupidly, Shen saw his chance. Before any of the masters could stop him, he took off across the room and threw himself over the balcony, extending his wings and gliding away, towards the ominous shape of the fireworks factory looming in the distance..._

"Augh!" Shen reflexively put a wing to his head, gasping. It was getting worse. Déjà vu was one thing, but that was full-blown vision. Just what was going on here?

He only realized what a horrible mistake he had made when he felt the needle get pulled out of his grip and stuck into his neck. It wasn't hard enough to cause serious damage, but it immobilized him instantly. The peacock collapsed to the floor with Mantis standing on top of him, catching his breath. "Fear...the...bug."

Po, rubbing his own head, finally came back to his senses. "...What just happened?"

Tigress smiled at him. "You just stopped Shen from getting away."

"...Oh...that's cool..." He looked away, obviously distracted by something, but the feline didn't get to question him any further.

"What do we do?" asked Crane. "We certainly can't stay _here_ now that Kai knows where we are."

"Wait, Kai? The guy from the boat attack?" Po snapped back again. "He's involved with this too?"

"We'll explain on the way," Tigress said, pleased that whatever was bothering him seemed to have passed for now.

Mantis poked Shen's paralyzed body hesitantly. "On the way to where?"

"I hate to admit it, but we're not equipped to handle this threat right now, especially when we've already lost two of our own. So we'll-"

"What happened to Monkey and Viper?"

"Po, seriously, we'll explain _._ As I was saying, we'll take Shen's advice and go track down this army of his. Now that we have a hostage of our own, we should be able to negotiate a mutual alliance, at least until we take back the city." Her constant grimace made it clear just how much she liked the idea of working with criminals, but it wasn't like they had any better ideas.

"Ha! Suck on _that_ irony!" Mantis yelled.

"Sounds good to me," Crane nodded.

"I'm so confused," Po groaned.

Tigress punched one paw into the other. "Then it's settled. Let's get going."

* * *

Shen was starting to get really sick of being destiny's punching bag. First he got the tar beaten out of him by Kai and lost his city, and now he was at the mercy of a team of kung fu masters, including a _panda_ no less! It was enough to make him want to hurl.

His limp form was currently being draped over the shoulder of Master Tigress. He found himself hurting quite a bit more now, which probably had something to do with the fact that she had violently ripped every needle out of his body to keep him from getting any more improvised weapons. The death grip she had on his back was another likely factor. She would've just left him paralyzed entirely if not for the fact that it left him unable to speak, and they still needed _some_ sense of direction to have any hope of finding his army.

His actual weapons were carried by the panda himself, held in a straw hat provided (reluctantly) by Crane. The panda was noticeably uncomfortable holding them, and as Shen saw his beautiful weaponry being soiled by those filthy paws, he started to imagine each and every blade being systematically stabbed into a different part of that bulbous body. It was quite cathartic actually.

"Can you please stop looking at me like that?" he pleaded meekly.

"No."

"Well Shen, we've been wandering around this forest for a good half-an-hour now," Tigress said, tightening her grip on him even more for emphasis. "And we have yet to see so much as a set of tracks."

Shen craned his neck and glared at the back of her head. "I only gave you a general direction. I'm sorry I didn't come up with an exact plan for where to go if we got kicked out of the city that we were already leaving within the week! As far as I know, they could have all deserted me by now." Shen didn't want to think about the possibility that they actually _could_ have deserted him. If that happened, this battle was truly hopeless.

Never before had he found himself so dependent on that group of wild mutts and dumb apes. Perhaps he had taken some things for granted. "Just keep walking around. They're 90% wolves. Sooner or later, they'll either pick up my scent, or the scent of blood, and come running."

"Since when are _you_ the one giving the orders?" she snapped back.

 _Since always_ , he wanted to say, but kept his beak shut.

 _"_ Say, you have more experience dealing with Kai than the rest of us," said Crane. "Why don't you tell us more about him."

"Yeah, I'm pretty curious too," Po chimed in. Having to listen to everything that the panda slept through being repeated back to him made Shen want to strangle something, preferably him.

"Fine," he said, if only to make them stop with the incessant questions. "I'll put this as simply as possible." He locked eyes with the panda. "Imagine that you're a cub again, and you're having fun at the playground with your favorite toy. Your very dearest toy, that means more to you than anything else in the world."

Po grinned and nodded eagerly, already imagining himself with his beloved Master Tigress action figure.

"Now imagine that another kid on the playground sees your toy and thinks that it's really neat. So because he's a lot bigger and stronger than you, he comes over and takes it from your grimy little paws." Po's face dropped. "But it's not enough for him that he has your toy now, so he kicks sand in your face and dangles it above your head, watching you cry about it. Then he shows it off to all of the other kids, laughing and bragging about how cool he is for stealing your toy. And for a while, they're laughing right along with him...up until he decides that he wants _their_ toys too. So now nobody wants to play with him anymore, but they don't have a choice because he has all the toys." Shen paused just long enough for this to sink in. "Kai is _that_ kid in the body of a centuries-old spirit warrior."

The panda nodded slowly in understanding...or so he thought. "Wait, couldn't the other kids just tell the teacher on him?"

"It's a metaphor. There is no teacher."

"I could be the teacher."

"You? A teacher? I'd like to see that happen," Mantis laughed.

"Hey!"

"The _point_ is," Shen cut in, more annoyed than when he started, "we're not dealing with someone like me. I at least have a sense of order to my ambition. Kai only thrives on causing as much chaos as possible, all for the sake of power and his own twisted sense of amusement." He left it off there, not wanting to share the rest of his thoughts.

Namely, that whatever Kai was putting the Soothsayer through right now, it was undoubtedly cruel and depraved beyond mortal comprehension.

* * *

"Get ready everyone, it's time for GONGMEN GLADIATORS!"

Kai sat atop the balcony overlooking Gongmen Jail, looking much better than he had just hours before. Thanks to the chi gained from the Jade Palace warriors, his mane had now fully regrown, and most of his scars had now faded. He only needed his jombies to bring him just a bit more and he would be good as new. _Better_ than new actually.

In the meantime, he could just sit back and enjoy the show. On one end of the arena was a pig in battle armor clearly designed for a much larger species, holding a similarly disproportionate axe. On the other end was an antelope also decked out in armor and wielding twin dao swords. Neither of them looked very happy to be there. "Both of you fine citizens have come to me for aid in these trying times. As I've gotten bored of just ignoring you, I will grant you the opportunity to get what you desire. All you need to do is prove yourselves strong enough to earn it."

The antelope looked around nervously. "Uh...I-I'm not sure I really w-want to-"

"And...FIGHT!"

The pig let out a war cry and charged as the antelope tried to defend himself. Kai watched all of this with a smile on his face. "Okay, I'll put twenty yuan on the pig. What do you think?" he asked the Soothsayer, sitting next to him.

"I think this senseless bloodshed is nothing but a waste of life and dignity."

"Spoilsport."

The Soothsayer winced as the pig's axe took off one of the antelope's horns. All of this suffering going on around her was too much to bear. She needed to take her mind off of it somehow. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do but talk, and there was only one conversational partner available. Might as well give it a shot. "Have you ever felt that this isn't the way things are meant to be?"

It was the first question that came to mind. She had no real reason to ask it other than the fact that it had been bothering her for so long, but she had gotten Kai's attention now, and it was too late to take it back. "What do you mean?"

This was going to be difficult to explain to someone not "connected" to the universe as she was. She could barely even explain it to herself. "I mean...that what's going on now isn't the original 'plan' that was set forth."

Kai looked away, stroking his beard idly. "Now that you mention it...I _did_ expect to be stomping over the remains of the Jade Palace by now. This whole Shen thing has been a much bigger detour than I thought. But that's okay. I'm still making headway, and it's not like a have a deadline anymore." He nudged her in the side. "Little immortal humor there."

"AHHH! He just broke my nose!" A scream came from below, taking Kai's attention away again.

"Heh heh heh, it's funny because it's true."

"So you really did come back from the Spirit Realm?" The Soothsayer pressed, wanting to gain as much insight as she could.

"Yep. Not even death itself can stop me," he smirked. Leave it to him to turn something like this into another boast.

"And you were friends with the late Grandmaster Oogway?"

His smirk vanished. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Nevertheless, he subconsciously gripped the amulet around his neck, giving her all the information she needed. "So that's how you got out. With Oogway's chi."

"That's right."

"How?"

"Easy, I just used the power of chi to rip a hole in time and space and-"

"No, I mean how did you find him?"

He tensed up, dropping the amulet. "...What?"

"The Spirit Realm is an entire alternate plane of existence, and the Grandmaster did not pass very long ago. How did you find him so quickly?" She was merely probing at first, but now that she had seen his reaction, she knew she was on to something.

"I can sense chi," he said simply, trying to shrug it off.

"If it were that simple, you would have found him even sooner."

"What is this, twenty questions?!" he snapped. "I found him and that's that! It doesn't matter how I did it!"

"So there _was_ another way?"

Kai pointed at her and opened his mouth to shout some more, but nothing came out. After several seconds of this, he finally got up and stormed off. "Forget it. I'm going to the bathroom."

"You don't do that anymore."

"THEN I'M GOING TO WAX MY HORNS!" Kai left the prison and slammed the front doors so hard that they both snapped off their hinges.

The Soothsayer smiled softly to herself. _That_ was certainly informative.

Hearing the carnage from below finally cease, she looked down cautiously into the arena, hoping it wasn't as bad as it sounded. What she saw was the pig lying on the ground and the antelope standing over him, both of them bruised and bloody. They stopped what they were doing, having noticed that Kai left, and looked up at her hopefully.

"Does this mean I get my bread?"

"Does this mean I get to live?"

* * *

"If I knew we were just going to be walking again, I would've slept longer." Po reached up to wipe a bead of sweat from his forehead, almost dropping Shen's weapons in the process.

"Be careful with those!" Shen yelled. "Each one of those knives if worth more than your life!"

"Gee, thanks."

"Po does have a point," Mantis agreed. "We've been walking forever."

"Says the guy who's been lounging on my shoulder for the entire trip," Crane said dryly.

"Hey, I was just in a hostage crisis! I need to calm my nerves!"

"Don't peacocks have a loud cry to signal danger?" Tigress finally asked. "Couldn't you use that to alert your army?"

"Oh, wonderful idea!" Shen rolled his eyes. "And what if Kai happens to hear it as well? Good luck escaping his forces with all of this dead weight, and I'm not referring to myself." Po frowned.

"Wait!" Tigress halted in place, making everyone else stop as well. She leaned down to the ground, paying no mind to Shen's complaints as she did so, and stared at the imprints in the ground closely. "Wolf tracks. We're getting close."

"Uh... _very_ close," Mantis said nervously.

As Tigress stood back up, she found herself face to face with a wolf soldier. A second later she noticed the rest, crawling out of the woods to surround the masters. They all brandished weapons at first, but lowered them when they saw their master on Tigress's shoulder. "Lord Shen," they said in unison, bowing down all around them. "At least _someone_ around here knows how to show proper respect," Shen muttered.

"We're saved!" Po cheered, ready to collapse from sheer relief.

Tigress stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Attention, army of Shen! As you can see, we have your master! If you want him back, we have a deal to make!"

She didn't get to make it. Shen kicked up his leg and hit Tigress directly in the opposite shoulder, the one that was still injured and visibly bandaged. As she cried out in pain, Shen managed to slip out of her grasp and leap over to the wolves' side. "Seize them!"

"You son of a-!" Tigress was cut off as the wolves attacked at once, quickly overwhelming the unprepared masters. In only a few moments, they were all forced to their knees and chained up, with the exception of Mantis, who was just thrown into a cage.

Shen laughed heartily, looking over his new prisoners. "Did you honestly think you could get the better of me? I've spent my entire life being underestimated. Now I've come to use it to my advantage."

Ignoring the fierce glares he got from the masters, Shen waved his wing and one of the wolves carried his weapons over to him. "Your weaponry, my lord. We were also able to retrieve _this_ as we made our escape." To his pleasant surprise, another wolf brought him his guandao, a bit scuffed and dirty, but still perfectly usable. Shen quickly rearmed himself, inserting knives back into his sleeves and reattaching his metal talons. Just walking around without them for even a moment made him feel naked and vulnerable.

"Much better," he said, twirling the guandao in his wings once more. This had turned out even better than he hoped. It seemed his luck was finally turning around. There was just one more thing to take care of. "Ah, but this is still not the full extent of my arsenal, is it?" He turned his attention back to the chained masters. "Don't you want to see it? My new weapon that you have all been so curious about? I think it's only fitting that it be the last thing you _ever_ see."

He laughed to himself once more, not noticing the wolves and gorillas start to look at each other nervously and back away. He only noticed when he stopped laughing and found complete silence. "Well? What is it?"

One gorilla, their commander, came forward. He was noticeably larger than the others, decked out in more impressive armor and giving a firm, serious gaze. "We don't have any cannons."

Shen's eye twitched. "...Excuse me?"

"We left them behind when we fled the city. We didn't have the time to-"

"IDIOTS!" Shen lashed out and caught the ape on the side of the face, sending him stumbling back with a bleeding cheek. "Did I not specifically order you to keep an eye on them?!"

"We did!" the Chief Gorilla shouted back. "But then the city was conquered, and for all we knew, the enemy was on its way. It would have taken too long to move the cannons."

"So you decided to leave my weapon, my _ultimate_ weapon, the only thing that gives us any kind of advantage here, all by itself, in bulk, _unprotected,_ within spitting distance of a guy obsessed with power?!"

"We could have just blown up the whole building. Would you have preferred _that?"_

Behind them, a few of the masters chuckled to themselves, not entirely sure what was going on, but enjoying it none the less. "Having a little trouble there, Shen?" Tigress taunted.

Shen spun around and flung a knife at her, which she whipped her head down to avoid. The knife stuck into the armor of a wolf guard, who now looked like he was about to wet himself. "You are in no position to mock me," he growled. "As soon as I get my weapon back-"

"And how are you going to do that?" she challenged. "You think Kai's just going to let you waltz into your factory and haul them out?"

He turned around, sputtering indignantly. They saw their opening. "Like it or not, you have no chance of pulling this off without our help," Crane pressed.

"Wait, are we seriously teaming up with the guy who just turned on us twice in one morning?" asked Mantis.

"And the guy who...did...something...else...I think?" Po trailed off, not entirely sure what he was going to say.

"We don't have a choice, and neither does he," Tigress said. "What's it going to be, Shen?"

Still not looking at them, Shen slowly raised one wing in their direction. "...Release them." Somewhat confused, but knowing better than to question it, the wolves removed the masters' chains, allowing them to stand back up again. "I'm going to make one thing perfectly clear," Shen said, finally making eye contact. "As of now, your fate is in _my_ hands. So you will follow my orders without question, or I reserve the right to change my mind and execute you in an instant. Do you understand?"

At this point, he was staring directly into Tigress's amber eyes. She tried to remain stoic as best she could, but growled out her answer regardless. "Yes."

"Very well." Shen gave them no more concern and spun around on his talons to address his army. "Let us return to whatever shoddy camp you've managed to scrap together. Make sure our new soldiers are well looked after."

As a unit, the group began to move off into the woods again. "Aw, that's nice of him to make sure we're okay at least," Po said, smiling brightly.

"That's not what he meant," Tigress corrected.

"Oh."

* * *

 _There was a deleted scene from KFP2 that had Gongmen Jail turned into an underground fighting ring, which is where the heroes would have originally found Ox and Croc. That scene was the inspiration for the whole "Gongmen Gladiators" thing._

 _Yes, the Chief Gorilla is the temporary replacement for the Wolf Boss. While I don't regret jombifying him, it does leave Shen lacking a lieutenant to play off of, so I figured the gorillas probably have a leader too and made one, even using the same "naming convention", if you could even call it that. He's not quite the same as the Wolf Boss though, being a lot less willing to take Shen's crap._


	11. The Big Picture

_It's back! Now that I've jumped over that massive hurdle in ToL, I should be good to keep on going. Last time I make crazy promises about my update schedule, I swear._

 _Twinkiebubble, I can't respond to you directly, but I see your comments, and I cringe as I learn things about canon that interferes with my headcanon. I think I have a way around that though, and I'll go into it later as you've given me some interesting ideas to work with. Thanks for the info._

* * *

 **Chapter 11: The Big Picture**

The journey back to Shen's camp was a tense affair. The peacock remained at the front of the group, followed by the Chief Gorilla and the rest of his army, now including four unwitting new recruits. Despite the fact that they had been the ones holding _him_ prisoner not twenty minutes ago, Shen barely even acknowledged their existence. It was insulting, but there wasn't much they could do about it now.

As much as a certain tiger _wanted_ to. "This is demeaning. We are trained kung fu masters of the Jade Palace, and he's treating us like we're no better than these mangy canines," she whispered harshly. "We need to do something about this. Otherwise, Shen is just going to kill us the second we're of no more use to him."

Hearing no response, Tigress looked over her shoulder at her teammates, finding that all of them seemed to just be staring off into space. "Anyone else want to offer some input?"

"Sure. How about 'we're all screwed'?" asked Mantis. Crane slowly nodded in agreement, while Po kept his eyes on his feet.

She frowned. "What is with you guys?"

"Tigress, I know you're trying to be the strong leader, but you have to admit, this is bad. Like, _really_ bad," said Crane. "We've just lost two of our friends and now we're at the mercy of a madman. I mean, what if..." He sighed and looked away.

"What if we can't get them back?" Mantis finished.

It seemed that the reality of the situation had finally set in. Tigress found herself clenching her fists subconsciously. True, Monkey and Viper were not technically dead, but if they couldn't stop Kai, they might as well be. Even worse, what if the rest of them were captured as well? Would they all be stuck like that forever, forced into the servitude of some monstrous yak, not even able to even ascend to the Spirit Realm? The more she thought about it, the more horrifying it became. Death almost seemed like the kinder alternative.

But she couldn't let despair get to her too. They were going to find a way to stop Kai. They _had_ to.

It occurred to her that Po had been the only one not to speak. "Do you feel the same way, Po?"

Po jumped slightly, startled that she had even addressed him. "Well...sort of. I'm kinda preoccupied with...something else."

"Like what?"

He twiddled his thumbs, still not making eye contact. "...It's not important."

" _Po_." She spoke his name firmly, a clear sign that she did not agree. Nevertheless, he remained silent.

With a small growl, Tigress returned her focus to the path ahead, rubbing the brow of her nose in frustration. Two members gone, and already the rest of the team was falling apart.

* * *

"Explain this to me again, _slowly_." Shen was still trying to decide whether or not he wanted to make an example of the Chief Gorilla. It was sorely tempting, but executing one of his main lieutenants in the current situation seemed unwise. Especially since the gorillas, unlike the wolves, didn't have any loyalty to him outside of the promise of wealth and power. He couldn't risk his strongest soldiers leaving him, but he wasn't about to let them just walk all over him either.

"As I said, my troops spotted the commotion in the city and alerted me. When I saw the tower collapse, and heard the cries of the wolves, I knew the city was lost and ordered an immediate retreat. I apologize for putting the safety of my men above your giant death machines."

Shen valued the large ape's strength and relative intelligence, but _not_ his mouth. Really, he should consider himself lucky they were in such dire straits, or he would not be so lenient. "How about since then? Have you at least been keeping your eyes on the city?"

"We've been sending scouts to the outskirts of Gongmen just to make some quick assessments here and there. Kai's sure been making a mess of the place."

"Oh, this gets better, does it?"

"It's not pretty, that's for sure. Abusing civilians, destroying buildings, gladiatorial death matches..."

Shen cringed just at the mental image. He wasn't surprised though. He had a feeling Kai taking over his city would not be a pleasant sight. Just another reason to hate the yak with a passion. "And the factory?"

"Untouched, as far as we can tell. Either Kai hasn't gotten to it yet, or he just doesn't think it's important enough."

That was _some_ good news, at least. Indeed, when not in operation, the fireworks factory didn't look particularly impressive. Perhaps his cannons were more well-hidden than he thought. But it was only a matter of time before that changed, and if Kai in control of his city was bad, Kai in control of his cannons was a nigh-apocalyptic scenario. "We need a plan."

"Oh, really? I thought we were just going to hide out forever."

Shen would've had a pointed remark telling him to shut up if he weren't sidetracked by a sudden chill down his spine, a reminder that he didn't _have_ forever. Not even close. He hadn't bought into the Soothsayer's prophecy before, but him losing his life to Kai suddenly seemed a lot more likely, even if his pride didn't want to accept it.

Inevitably, this brought him back to the kung fu masters currently under his wing. Even if they had exploited his vulnerability to join his forces, he had to admit that their skills could prove useful. They would make perfect bait, if nothing else. It wasn't like the panda could ever outrun those jade monsters anyway, though it would amuse him greatly to watch him try.

 _The panda..._

Shen's beak tightened. There was something very off about that panda. Even if he had no reason to concern himself with the creature anymore, he couldn't shake this nagging feeling that he was somehow important _._ It was an absurd notion, said every logical part of his mind, but still it persisted. Why? He had never even _met_ the panda before today.

Why...why did that not seem correct?! Did it have something to do with that strange vision? It felt familiar somehow, and yet what he saw couldn't possibly have happened.

Just trying to think about this made his head hurt. For the first time, Shen found himself desperately wanting the Soothsayer's advice. Maybe she could at least help him make sense of it.

But until then, there was no point in sharing it with anyone else. Whatever was going on here, it was his problem and his alone.

* * *

 _"Damn it Oogway, where are you?"_

 _Kai growled to himself in annoyance as he made his way through the endless expanse of the Spirit Realm. It wasn't often that he was in a good mood now. In fact, the number of truly good days the yak had experienced since his banishment he could count on one hoof. And he only had three fingers. For a banishment that had now lasted a few centuries, this was somewhat of a problem._

 _Of course, he didn't actually know the exact amount of time he had spent here. Time wasn't even a concept in this place. But once he had found himself stuck here, and realized that he wasn't getting out anytime soon, he started to "guesstimate", using things as mundane as the position of floating rocks in relation to an upside-down temple to get at least some sense of passing time. That was how the first few decades went, not helped by the fact that, being a spirit warrior now, Kai couldn't even sleep the time away._

 _To the enlightened mind, the Spirit Realm was not the end of life, but simply the beginning of another. To the unenlightened mind, it was boring as shit._ _Perhaps Oogway had sent him here out of some sick sense of mercy, but as far as he was concerned, Hell would've at least been more interesting._

 _In order to keep himself sane, most of his time was spent on his newfound chi abilities, trying to see what he could and could not accomplish, what he could and could not blow up. Every time he was unable to do something, he felt a sting to his ego, and the urge to collect even more chi. Unfortunately for him, the Spirit Realm was a very very large place, and finding more chi was like finding a divine needle in a celestial haystack. For a while, all he had to work with was the stolen chi of that first unlucky panda. By the time he found anyone else, he wasn't even sure he COULD steal it anymore._

 _Spoiler alert: He totally could._

 _Not only could he still take chi, he gradually became more and more skilled at it. As the centuries passed, he learned many things about his adopted art. He learned to turn his little jade baubles into his own personal army, he learned to reduce any damage he took through the power of his chi, and most importantly, he learned how to sense the chi of others._

 _He also started getting some insight into the outside world from these other masters. He became aware of just how much time had passed, and the things that Oogway had accomplished since his untimely departure. Apparently, he had become some great hero, inventing an art form known as "kung fu" and teaching it to anyone willing to learn. He had become so revered in fact, that an entire palace had been built in his honor. Oogway had betrayed and banished him, and now he was practically being worshiped like a god?! The very thought made him sick to his stomach. He vowed that he would not only take his revenge on Oogway, he would snuff out his accomplishments and destroy his undeserved legacy. Starting with that palace._

 _It seemed like another ordinary day when he suddenly felt a huge ripple of chi pass through the Spirit Realm. A very familiar chi. Oogway had arrived at last. That day had been one of those rare good days, when he knew he finally had a real chance of setting his plan in motion._

 _But months had passed since then, and he was no closer to that goal than when he started. He should've known that Oogway wouldn't make the hunt easy for him. He was the brains to his brawn for a damn good reason. The tortoise was smart enough to know that he would be coming for him, and with that knowledge, had somehow been able to elude him time and time again. Kai didn't know if he also possessed some kind of chi senses, or if he was simply that clever, but either way, it was seriously starting to piss him off._

 _"You can't hide from me forever, Oogway! I'll find you, even if it takes me a few MORE centuries!"_

 **Wrong way.**

 _Kai halted on the spot, nearly tripping over himself. He looked all around and honed his senses, but he could neither see nor sense anything out of the ordinary._

 _Great. Now he was hearing voices in his head. Hey, after nearly five hundreds years of isolation, it was impressive it had taken this long._

 **You seek the Grandmaster, yes? Would you like to know where to find him?**

 _No, this was definitely not his imagination. He was pretty sure his own mind knew him well enough not to ask something so obvious. "What's it to you?" He felt ridiculous as he threw the question out into thin air. Regardless, he was answered._

 **I can grant you the information you so desire. I only request a small proposition in return.**

 _"Oh, really?" Kai laughed sardonically. "You seriously expect me to believe that? Just who and what the hell are you anyway?"_

 _There was a long silence, and for a moment, Kai thought he had called this guy's bluff and scared him off. But before he could even start walking again, he heard a low, reverberating chuckle._

 **I don't believe those are the questions you should be asking at this juncture, Mr. Kai. What you should be asking is whether or not you can afford to ignore my generous offer.**

 _Kai clutched his blades tightly. He really wished he had a face to throw them at right now._

 _COULD he ignore this? He was going to find Oogway sooner or later, that much was certain, but who knew how much longer it was going to take? Didn't it benefit him more to get out of here as quickly as possible? So he could stamp out Oogway's legacy while it was still fresh on everyone's' minds? He NEEDED his revenge._

 _After several long moments, he responded, while keeping a firm glare on nothing in particular. "...I'll hear you out, but that's all I'm promising."_

 **Good. Then I would like to make a deal, Mr. Kai.**

"SCREW YOU!" Kai's fist slammed into the brick wall of a nearby building.

That's what he _should_ have said anyway.

He panted heavily and trembled in rage, barely even noticing as the building crumbled to the ground next to him. He couldn't believe this. Had he seriously just been chased out of his own hideout by a little old lady? Talk about humiliating. The worst part was that he couldn't even do anything about it. It wasn't like he could just beat up an elderly goat. Yeah, _that_ would sure make him look macho.

All he could do was vent his frustrations on the city, its civilians wisely staying out of his way. He threw a kick at the side of a pottery shop, breaking everything inside in a satisfying clatter. If there was anyone still in these buildings, he neither noticed nor cared.

There was a time when he was accepting, even _proud_ , of all the help Oogway had given him back in their warlord days. But after his betrayal, and the many long centuries Kai had been left to stew in his bitterness, he would never again give such credit to the tortoise. That was why the Soothsayer's probing had riled him up so much, for he would sooner die than admit that he had ever needed anyone's help again.

No, he told himself, he didn't really need it. It was simply more convenient this way. After all, he had conquered this city all by himself, hadn't he? So why did it matter how he had gotten here in the first place? When someone made an acceptance speech at a party, they didn't credit the driver who brought them there.

By the time he cleared out three city blocks, he was feeling a lot better. Whoever said violence couldn't solve your problems was an idiot.

* * *

"Have we quite made it yet?" Shen asked, quickly losing his patience. He was on a serious time crunch here.

"I don't see a camp anywhere, so I'm guessing no," the Chief Gorilla replied dryly.

While Shen restrained himself from pulling a knife, the Jade Palace masters were starting to get restless themselves. None more so than Po, who was unknowingly facing similar problems as the peacock. Ever since that wolf attack back in the Musician's Village, he had been plagued with visions and nightmares of his real parents. This latest one had confirmed what he already suspected: Lord Shen had been there the last time he'd seen his parents. What that _meant_ exactly he wasn't sure, but he was getting the sinking feeling that it couldn't be good. The only way he would find out for sure was by speaking to the bird himself, but current circumstances made that...difficult.

He couldn't talk about it with the Five either, especially not Tigress. The feline was such a hardcore, badass warrior that he was sure he would never measure up to her. What would she think of him if he showed that kind of weakness? It was better to just put this aside for as long as he could. He still had a job to do.

"We're here," Tigress announced, startling him. He nearly walked right into her back before he noticed that the entire army had come to a stop.

"Here?" Po's eyes widened and the breath left his lungs as he saw the tents and supplies that marked Shen's camp...

...built right around the ruins of an abandoned village.

* * *

 _The scene at the beginning was partially in response to a minor criticism that the emotional impact on the remaining masters has been...somewhat lacking, and frankly I can't disagree. I just happen to be better at comedy than drama._

 _I recently had the idea of writing a fic purely about Kai's time in the Spirit Realm, because I didn't touch upon it here nearly as much as I wanted to. I do at least have a oneshot planned that involves this, but I will say no more about that for now._

 _I'm also not going to go into our friend with the bold text yet, but I will say that it took me a while to narrow down an actual personality for him, which isn't much of a problem when he had exactly three lines before this chapter (and yet I still had to go back and edit one). I'll say more about that later because it's a bit spoilery._ _My first attempt to foreshadow his connection to Kai was actually way back in Chapter 5, when Kai's internal monologue is cut off right before he would've mentioned it. It was a bit of a sloppy attempt I admit._


	12. Innocence Lost

_Just got back from updating my profile. Added the ToL character bios (all EIGHT of them), a list of my current and past fics, and cleaned the whole thing up a bit. I also listed my upcoming stuff on there just for those curious. I doubt it will surprise most of you._

 _In the meantime, let's get back to more fun happenings with Shen and friends._

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Innocence Lost**

From the moment they entered the ruined village, it was clear that something was very wrong.

"Po? Po, what is it?" Tigress asked.

The panda was rooted to the spot, his eyes wide and his body trembling. If he had even heard her, he didn't show it. The Five looked at each other uneasily. "Seriously, there is something _weird_ going on with the big guy lately," said Mantis, poking him in the leg.

Lord Shen was less than sympathetic. "Ugh, what's the drama queen doing now? Aside from wasting my very limited time that is?"

Tigress turned to glare at him until she heard Po gasp. The panda dropped to his knees, staring down at the ground as he let out short, shaking breaths. He put one paw to his head, looking around as if seeing the world for the first time.

Before anyone could question him further, his expression changed abruptly, his eyes narrowing and his teeth clenching. He raised his head and glared at the peacock even more fiercely than Tigress had. "What did you do?"

Shen looked back at him with thinly-veiled disdain. "I don't know what you're-"

"What did you _do?!_ " Po demanded, getting back to his feet and starting to advance on him. Some of the wolves growled and drew weapons, but he paid them no mind. The Five were stunned into silence. They had never seen Po this angry before. "I saw something just now. A vision...no, a memory! I saw you and your wolves, here in this village! I saw pandas, tons of them, including my own parents! _And_ I saw them all running away in fear while you were...were..." Po looked away for a moment, losing his steam. "What did you do?" he asked again, quietly.

Shen knew exactly what he was getting at of course, and he saw no reason to break the news gently. "What did I do? I removed an obstacle from my path. That is all."

The Five gasped, but Po didn't make a sound. Or rather, he _couldn't._ It was as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs.

Shen smiled at him cruelly. "What? You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

The punch was surprisingly fast, and Shen almost didn't dodge it in time. As he let Po sail past him, he turned and extended his train, blinding the panda as he kicked his leg out and tripped him. Po hit the ground and went straight into a roll, avoiding Shen's talons as he tried to stomp down on him. Po got back to his feet and stared him down.

Shen raised a wing to his soldiers, a silent signal not to interfere, then withdrew several knives from his sleeves. "Go ahead. Give me an excuse to put you out of your misery. Just like the rest of your worthless species."

Po let out a yell and charged him. Shen flung both knives in his direction, but as enraged as he was, Po still had some reason left in him and jumped over the knives, landing a flying kick to Shen's chest. The peacock skidded back, dragging his metal talons through the dirt, and steadied himself on one wing. Before he could recover completely, Po barreled into him, pulling them both to the ground. The panda and peacock rolled around, continuing to pummel each other.

"Should we do something about this?" Crane asked worriedly.

"And start an all-out brawl with Shen's army? Probably not the best idea," said Mantis.

Po reeled back as Shen's talons sliced into his arm, but he ignored the pain and came down with a punch that bloodied his beak. "You won't get away with this!"

"Killing me won't bring them back, fool!" Shen finally kicked Po away and drew several more knives, aiming right for that bulbous belly. He would not miss this time.

Po suddenly lurched forward, stumbling as he tried to remain standing. He stared into Shen's eyes, half-angrily, half-pleadingly, before he collapsed to the ground.

Tigress stood behind him, her paws still clasped together and stinging from the hard blow they had just dealt to Po's skull. Shen looked down at the unconscious panda and snorted, mildly disappointed. "Hmph. You should keep a better handle over your panda. Wouldn't want his kind to become extinct, would we?"

Returning his knives to his sleeves as if nothing happened, Shen turned around and continued into the camp, completely ignoring the masters as they crowded around the fallen hero.

* * *

In just a few brief moments, an already delicate situation had escalated into an explosive one. While Shen had spared Po's life, for reasons none of the Five could understand, they knew their alliance was on thin ice. One wrong move and they would have _two_ evil maniacs as their enemy, greatly reducing their chances of coming out of this alive.

And so the Dragon Warrior, legendary savior of the Valley, was now tied to a post inside one of the ruined houses, the place where Shen's army was currently trying to come up with a plan of attack. Tigress, Crane, and Mantis hovered around him, both to protect the panda, and because they preferred to keep as far away from Shen as possible.

"I hate this," Tigress growled to herself, her claws drumming against her folded arms.

"Don't we all?" Mantis asked, lacking his usual jest.

"Poor Po." Crane looked over his shoulder, down at the slumped over panda. "He doesn't deserve this."

"No, he doesn't," Tigress agreed. "But it's the only way to keep him from getting himself killed, so we'll just have to put up with it." She glanced back at Po herself. Tied up like a common criminal, and his only crime was wanting to find out the truth about his parents. It was a desire she could empathize with, being an orphan herself, and had she been in Po's shoes at that moment, she would have had an even more difficult time keeping herself from ripping Shen apart. That was why she knew she had to step in and stop him before it was too late. If what Po claimed was true, and Shen had pretty much confirmed it, then the warlord was even more of a monster than she thought. She wasn't sure she would have ever made that alliance with him if she knew about this, even if the alternative was her own death.

Thinking about this any longer was only going to make her angrier, so Tigress turned her attention across the room, to Shen's war meeting. The army had apparently salvaged a map of Gongmen City, which now lay spread across a table while Shen and his top commanders discussed strategy. Plotting further conquest atop the ruins of the species they had massacred.

 _No! Think about something else! Anything else!_

With little other option, Tigress decided to listen in on the meeting. At the very least, she could make sure they weren't going to be used as bait or something.

 _"_ Here's what we know," Shen spoke, stabbing a knife into the spot on the map that marked the fireworks factory. "My arsenal of cannons is being stored here, with production halted on the rest of the line. From what the scouts have reported, Kai has not yet discovered the factory, and so the arsenal should be safe for the time being. Is this correct?" Shen glared up at the Chief Gorilla, _daring_ the large ape to contradict him.

"That is correct, sir."

"Well since you're the one who got us into this mess, I don't suppose you have a plan?"

"Of course I do, but surely any plan I could come up with would pale in comparison to your brilliant tactical mind."

He knew there was a reason he had hired this guy. "...Well played." He returned his attention to the map. "The bottom line is that we are operating within a very small window here. We don't know how long those cannons are going to be safe, so we should try to get them out of there as quickly as possible, but we can't just send in the whole army either or Kai will notice us for sure." One of the few weaknesses he would admit the weapons possessed was that they could be extremely cumbersome at times. "Slow and steady, or fast and efficient? Either way is a serious gamble. If Kai finds us before we're done, it's _over._ "

This was just like his banishment, trying to scrape by on taking stupid risks, and he felt just as desperate. It was not a situation he ever wanted to be in again.

"How about a diversion?" the Chief Gorilla suggested. "We could attack Kai in the city while the rest of the army goes to the factory."

"You'd only be throwing your lives away. I can't just let you sacrifice yourselves like that." Shen furrowed his brow. "Besides, you'd all be slaughtered so quickly that it would only make him more alert."

"And here I thought you might have actually cared. Silly me." The gorilla rolled his eyes.

"What if _we_ provide the diversion?"

Tigress had spoken up before she could stop herself. The feline kung fu master strolled across the room until she was standing right in front of Shen. "We can keep Kai busy for a while, and we're the ones he really wants anyway. So _we_ distract him, and _you_ retrieve your precious death machines." She made no attempt to hide the venom in her tone.

"Tigress, what are you doing?!" Crane whispered.

"Well?"

Shen looked surprisingly conflicted. "Hmm...as convenient as it would be to get you freeloaders out of my feathers, and most likely killed in the process, I'm not sure I like the idea of you giving Kai that much chi. He could already take a cannonball to the face before, I don't want to know what he'll be like with _that_ kind of boost."

At the back of the room, Mantis breathed a sigh of relief. "He doesn't like it. Don't worry, we're-"

"We could rescue her."

Shen's breath caught in his throat. "W-What are you talking about?"

"Kai is holding someone close to you hostage, right?" Tigress asked, pressing further. She hadn't forgotten that part, as much as the bird probably wanted her to. "Provided we're able to escape, we can bring this nanny of yours back here."

"She is not my nanny!" A few of the soldiers snickered to themselves until a sharp glare from Shen shut them up. Seeing Tigress smirking at him, he realized he had said too much.

Still...was it really such a bad idea? If everything worked out, he could have both his cannons _and_ the Soothsayer by the end of the day. Even if they failed, and he found it quite probable that they would, it was one less mess to have to deal with. It was still a huge risk, but it was the risk he was most willing to take.

"Very well. If you want to go off and kill yourselves for me, so be it." He swept a wing across the map. "The woman you are looking for is an old Soothsayer named Ah-Ma. The last place I saw her was the Tower of the Sacred Flame, or what's left of it anyway. Where Kai has taken her since, I haven't the foggiest."

He smiled, uncomfortably cheerful. "Good luck."

* * *

"You have picked the _wrong_ day to mess with me." Kai slowly turned around, seeing the large form of Master Bear standing behind him. He knew the ursine master had recently escaped the grasp of his jombies, but had been too distracted at the time to put much thought into it. He couldn't say he appreciated the reminder.

"You picked the wrong day to attack my village," Bear growled back, clutching two large axes in his paws. "For the innocent lives you have endangered, my legendary strength will strike you down!"

Bear attacked, swinging both axes at Kai's head. The yak ducked under them and swung his horns back up, disarming him in about three seconds. He grabbed the bear by the throat and lifted him into the air with one arm. "Is this what passes for legendary strength these days? Can't say I'm impressed." He watched Bear claw at his arm for a bit, not even leaving a scratch, then threw him over his shoulder and into another building. He'd long lost count of how many he had destroyed by now.

Snarling savagely, Bear rose from the rubble and charged him on all fours. Kai planted his hooves to the side and stood his ground, letting Bear charge right into his gut. The result was similar to a rickshaw plowing full speed into a steel wall. There was the sound of several snapping bones, and then Bear collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. "Interesting. When Master Storming Ox tried that, he bowled me right over. Nice to see this little venture is starting to pay off." He stepped onto Bear's throat and pressed down hard.

"You'll never win," Bear choked out. "No matter how many you claim, someone will-urk!" He suddenly found his speech impeded as Kai pressed even harder.

"No, really, if I have to listen to one more person go on about how someone else is going to stop me, I think I'm gonna yarf. How about you guys quit passing the buck and admit that maybe, just _maybe,_ you're all completely screwed."

Master Bear did not so much scream but whimper as his chi was stolen. Kai laughed, feeling the chi wash over his body, closing up every remaining scar and healing every bruise. Finally, he was whole again.

Well...almost.

Feeling a sudden chill on his face, Kai reached up and rubbed at the spot where he used to have his battle helmet. He frowned to himself as he felt only his horns. Petty as it was, he felt naked without the thing. And while he was just waiting around here anyway...

Kai's eyes flashed as he called his nearest jombies to him. His call was answered immediately, as the jade Wolf Boss and his pack scampered over like the obedient dogs they were. "Alpha team, go find me the largest source of metal around here so I can forge a new helmet!" He pointed both hooves at his bare forehead indignantly. The jombie wolves quirked their heads in unison, as if even these mindless drones found the order a bit silly. "I'm not asking for your opinion, JUST GET IT DONE!"

The wolves ran off again, now with something better to do than just patrolling the streets. Kai returned to his current headquarters of Gongmen Jail, feeling quite pleased with himself again.

* * *

Crane and Mantis waited patiently for Shen and his troops to clear out of the ruined house before saying anything, but once they were gone, the two masters were quick to speak their minds.

"What were you thinking?!" Mantis stood on top of the unconscious Po's head while he continued to rant. "I thought you were going over there to keep us from being thrown into trouble, not to _volunteer_ for it!"

Tigress sighed in frustration. "It's not my ideal plan either, but it's the best one we've got. If we can get this Soothsayer back to Shen along with his weapons, then we might have a real chance of being able to solidify our alliance against Kai."

"Are we sure we really _want_ to be allying with Shen?" Crane asked. "I mean...you heard what he did. All of those innocent pandas..."

"I know!" She snapped, a little too forcefully. "I know how much of a monster he is and I know that he doesn't deserve our help, but I also know that Kai is even worse. Shen may want to take over China, but Kai is more likely to turn it into a flaming wasteland." She narrowed her eyes at them. "You want them back, don't you?"

They didn't need any hint as to who she was talking about. "Of course," Crane said firmly.

"Then it's settled. We're pulling a rescue mission, in more ways than one."

Mantis looked ready to protest, but just ended up shaking his head in resignation. "I guess we've done crazier stuff before. And hey, even if we do all get jombified, we still get to be with our friends again."

"...That's _one_ way of looking at it," said Crane, rubbing his wing uncomfortably.

Po suddenly groaned from under Mantis's tiny legs, starting to wake up.

"You may have convinced _us_ Tigress, but I have a feeling the big guy is going to be a harder sell."

She was well aware. Po was the one she was really worried about anyway. "Leave him to me. You go make sure Shen isn't plotting anything behind our backs."

Mantis and Crane both had to wonder if leaving Tigress alone with the panda was really the best idea, but they left anyway.

"...What...happened...?" Po asked weakly, his eyes slowly adjusting.

Tigress took a deep breath. This was going to be one of the greatest challenges of her life. She would rather run up and down the thousand stairs a thousand times, in the freezing rain, barefoot, while carrying a hundred pounds of rice on her back, than try to convince Po that Lord Shen was worth teaming up with. But it had to be done.

"Po?"

"Why...why am I tied up?"

"Po, listen," Tigress said gently. "I...kind of had to knock you out...and tie you up."

She had expected him to be mad, but he looked more confused than anything. "Why?"

"Because...you tried to attack Lord Shen."

This time he reacted exactly as she expected. His face tightened and his paws clenched into fists. "Oh. _Him._ "

Tigress wasn't sure how to proceed. This kind of thing was _really_ not her strong suit. And yet, she felt that she needed to be the one to do this. "Yes, Po. I had to step in and act before you got yourself killed. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." He smiled at her, catching her off-guard momentarily. "I understand. I was being reckless again. What else is new, right?" He actually laughed a little.

She would never get used to how erratic his emotions could be sometimes. Still, he was taking this surprisingly well. "...Right."

"So what happened next? I guess Shen took off and we're hunkering down here now?"

Tigress winced. So _that's_ why he was taking this so well. "Not exactly."

"Then what?"

There was no point beating around the bush anymore. "Po...Shen's still here. We're about to pull a rescue mission for him so we can ally against Kai."

He stared back at her blankly, his expression unreadable. A few moments passed, and Tigress was getting anxious for some kind of response. "Po?"

"...Why?" He looked utterly betrayed.

"Po, I-"

"I know Kai is the bigger threat, I get that," he said, already predicting what she was going to say. "But that doesn't mean we have to be buddy-buddy with the guy who _killed my family_." His breathing started to become erratic, tears forming at the edge of his eyes. "I-I mean, couldn't we just-just let them take each other out? We don't h-have to pick a side, right?" He was practically begging at this point.

"We're not on Shen's side," Tigress insisted, knowing she had to tread carefully. "We're on the side of...justice."

It was the first thing she could think of. It seemed effective though, as Po's expression softened up a bit. "And us heroes of justice sometimes have to do things we don't want to for the greater good," she continued, hoping this was getting through to him.

"Like...working with an evil warlord in order to save China?"

"Yes, Po. Exactly." She smiled. "I don't expect you to forgive him, but if you could just put this aside for now and focus on saving China, that would be really...awesome...of you."

A bit manipulative perhaps, but it got the job done. "R-Really?"

"Really." Without even thinking, she reached out and put a paw on his shoulder, staring into his eyes. "Po, as soon as Kai is dealt with, we will bring Lord Shen to justice for what he's done. I promise."

He looked away. "Tigress?"

"Yes, Po?"

"Could you untie me now?"

She hesitated only for a second. Unsheathing her claws, she sliced Po's ropes apart with one swift motion. He brushed the ropes off of him and used one arm to wipe the remaining tears from his eyes.

Then he suddenly lunged at her.

"Po?!"

Tigress braced herself for an attack, but to her surprise, the panda instead wrapped her up in a literal bear hug, his face buried in her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said softly, his voice muffled.

Slowly, she returned the hug, supremely glad that no one else was here to see this.

* * *

 _Just in case you were perhaps sympathizing with Lord Shen a little TOO much, here's a firm reminder of exactly the kind of person we're dealing with._

 _This is what happens when Po learns the truth without the guidance of character development and a kindly Soothsayer. Don't worry, this is probably the darkest thing I will write for quite some time. The Kai scene was there partially just to lighten the mood a bit. Like I said before, drama isn't really my forte. But let me know how I did with it regardless._

 _On the bright side, my next update is going to be a brand new fic. So keep a look out for that. :)_


	13. Operation: Divination

_Well, glad to see I'm better at being dramatic than I thought. We're quickly approaching the climax of the second day now, but there's still quite a bit more to go._

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Operation: Divination**

"Why didn't I just kill him?"

Lord Shen sat in his private tent, deeply troubled over issues similar, yet so very different from the panda. No matter how many times he asked himself that same question, he couldn't come up with an answer that satisfied him. The simple truth was that he _had_ no reason to spare the panda. Not only was he a constant reminder of his failure to completely eradicate the species, he had physically assaulted him! Shen had killed his own soldiers for much less. It wasn't like he felt any remorse over his actions, he had made _that_ perfectly clear. So why did this one particular creature make Shen want to stay his blade?

It made absolutely no sense, but he was beginning to get used to that.

This was exactly why he needed the Soothsayer back. Surely, she of all people could help explain what was wrong with him. And if she couldn't...then maybe he really was crazy after all. At this point, he almost hoped that was case. Insanity was a much simpler explanation.

So despite his hatred of the Jade Palace masters, and _especially_ the panda, he actually found himself hoping they would succeed on what he fully believed was a suicide mission.

Or did he just want the panda to succeed?

Shen screamed in frustration and threw a flurry of knives into the wall of his own tent, ignoring the startled yells from the other side. This was getting ridiculous. More importantly, it was distracting him from what actually mattered: the retrieval of his mighty cannons.

He stormed out of his tent, seeing the sky rapidly growing darker. Two days had almost passed; there was no more time to lose. He reared his head back and let out a peacock's cry, calling all of his troops to assemble at once. The wolves came rushing to him immediately. The gorillas, while a bit slower, weren't far behind, not even their infuriating chief.

Shen clapped his wings together and cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, today is the day we begin the counterattack against our enemy! It will be a day of glory, pride, and great sacrifice! It was only yesterday that we were kicked out of our ancestral home once again, and already it has been far too long! Kai will never know what hit him, mainly because we are not the ones who are going to be fighting him! The honorable students of the Jade Palace have been gracious enough to throw themselves into Kai like flies against a brick wall, all for the sake of my conquest! All _you_ have to do is sneak into my factory and retrieve the weapons that you so foolishly lost in the first place! Hopefully, you idiots can at least pull off _that_ much! If not, I'll have some new fur rugs to decorate my palace with! Now, let us set out for victory!"

As far as motivational speeches went, there had surely been better. But Shen didn't care. As his army grumbled to themselves and prepared themselves for the nonexistent battle to come, the only thing on his mind was retrieving that which belonged to him.

"Don't worry, dear Soothsayer. You will return to your proper place soon enough."

* * *

Po wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

Now that he knew the truth about his past and where he came from, he felt the desire to explore his old village further out of some innate curiosity to learn more about his species. But doing so _now_ , with Shen and his troops crawling around making a mockery of it, didn't seem like the best idea. Especially when a lot of those people clearly wanted him dead.

So he settled for staying in the same room Tigress had left him, on his insistence that he needed to be alone for a while. She was reluctant of course, but ultimately agreed, so long as she could still come to bring him food every now and then. He was grateful for that too, because he ate when he was upset, and boy was he hungry right now.

"Focus Po, focus." He took deep breaths as he sat in a meditative pose. It was one of the few times he actually wanted to meditate and only now did he start to see the true value of it. He had calmed down now, at least mostly. He still hated Shen for what he did, but he didn't feel the urge to fly into a murderous rage at the very thought of him now. He could complete this mission for him if the end goal was getting justice for his lost family. That thought alone was enough to make him content. "It's gonna be okay. We'll just rescue this Soothsayer, skadoosh Kai, and then skadoosh Shen. Then I can put this all behind me."

It was no inner peace, but it was about as close as he was going to get.

It felt like he had spent weeks in this room when Tigress finally came to get him. "Are you ready?" she asked, a bit uncertainly. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure he was fit to come along, but it was better than leaving him with the lunatic peacock.

It seemed that her worries were unfounded however, as Po rose from his sitting position and took one last deep breath, his fists clenching in determination. "Let's bring the thunder to Kai and make him feel it."

"That's the spirit," she smiled.

As Tigress and Po exited the ruined building, Crane and Mantis were quick joined up with them. "Shen's getting ready to head out himself. It's time to go," said Crane.

The four warriors nodded to each other silently and left the village behind, knowing that the fate of their friends, along with all of China, rested on this one mission.

* * *

For all the excitement going on outside the city however, Kai was bored out of his mind.

"Come on, put a little _effort_ into it! Are you fighting to the death or playing patty-cake, because I can't tell anymore!" Kai groaned and leaned one cheek into his fist. Gongmen Gladiators was fun for a while, but watching people kill each other for his amusement had lost its novelty surprisingly fast. And he was just thinking of making it into a franchise too. Why did mortals have to suck _this_ much?

"Perhaps you might have become desensitized to violence," said the Soothsayer dryly.

"Of course I have. That's why I need to keep upping the ante to still get a kick out of it. But if I wanted to see gladiators that fight like old people, I would've sent _you_ down there." He stomped his hoof and stood up. "ENOUGH! It's a draw!"

The sheep and goat fighting below looked up at him. "So we both win?" the goat asked meekly.

"Sure! Here's your prize!" With one toss of his blade, the match had reached a decisive conclusion.

The Soothsayer shuddered. Kai may have been desensitized to this violence, but she certainly wasn't.

"I would kill for some good entertainment right now." The yak sat back down and let out a moan that should have been reserved for people in much greater peril, like the ones he had just slaughtered. "Oh heck with it, I'll kill anyway."

* * *

The moon was starting to rise by the time Po and the Five reached Gongmen City. They sat crouched behind a roof as they thought over their plan of attack. The irony of all of this was that sneaking into the city to take down an evil warlord was the reason they had come here in the first place. It had only taken them a few extra days to get to it, but better late than never.

"As cool as posing on top of this roof is, what's the plan?" asked Po, quickly returning to his usual spirits now that they were back in the action.

"Find the Soothsayer and get her out of there," Tigress said simply.

"Yeah...but _how_?" Mantis pressed. "Didn't Shen basically say he had no idea where she is?"

"He seemed pretty clear about that actually," added Crane.

"Unfortunately, we don't have much in the way of options," Tigress admitted. "Splitting up is out of the question. He'll just pick us off one by one."

"And we're _supposed_ to get his attention anyway, right?" Mantis still wasn't crazy about the whole idea.

It was clear that the old Po had indeed returned when he suddenly shot a paw into the air and went, "Ooh! Ooh! I got it!"

* * *

Kai's jade warriors, commonly known as jombies, didn't have much in the way of thoughts. At least not in the way that fully sentient beings did. Their "thoughts" were limited to only two things: what they had been ordered to do, and what was in their way of doing it. This made them very efficient soldiers, but they did have their weaknesses.

For one, they weren't particularity good at adapting. So when the jade Viper was suddenly set upon by Tigress in the middle of her patrol, she didn't have any other recourse than to attempt to bring the feline to her master as a vessel of chi. This was the case even when Tigress pinned her down, a knee on the snake's tail and a paw on her neck, making this task all but impossible to complete. But she had not been given any other order, and so she kept trying to complete it regardless.

Another weakness was their inability to communicate. Aside from the few whose styles were dependent on each other, the closest they ever came to "teamwork" was when they all happened to be beating down the same target. They simply didn't have thoughts complex enough to form tactics or send signals to each other. Which was why Viper, despite her incessant biting and thrashing, went unaided by any of her fellow jombies across the city.

She _could_ however, communicate with her master, and that was exactly what she did. It also happened to be exactly what Tigress wanted.

* * *

"Maybe if I put them in spandex...no, it'd be really hard to get the blood out of that." Kai scratched at his beard, still contemplating.

"Maybe you could let them go," said the Soothsayer, half-sarcastically.

He didn't seem to pick up on that. "What, and sic my jombies on them as they run away? Hey, that _could_ be fun!" His eyes flashed. "Hold on a sec, I gotta take this."

* * *

"Kai, do you hear me?" Tigress growled.

Viper abruptly stopped struggling, her serpentine head looking up at Tigress through glowing eyes. "Of course I can hear you. So, the masters of the Jade Palace have come crawling back at last." Viper's face formed a smile that mirrored Kai's own. "Thank the gods! You have no idea how badly I needed this!"

"No, not the masters. Just me." Tigress narrowed her eyes. "Everyone else is safe right now. I'm not going to let you take any more of my friends." She tried to ignore that fact that she was snakehandling a cheap facsimile of one of these friends right now.

"Is that so? What do you want then?"

"A duel. One-on-one. I win, and you return all of that chi to its rightful owners."

Kai laughed. Not just his usual villainous laugh, but the kind of laugh that told her he found this really, genuinely hilarious. "Sounds good to me! I'll be waiting for you in Gongmen Jail. I know you're new to the city, but my tour guide there will help you out. Just follow the smell of blood and the screams of the oppressed."

"Don't worry, I'll find you on my own." Tigress clasped her paws together, and raised them over her head. "Sorry Viper," she whispered, bringing her paws down and exploiting another jombie weakness by shattering the snake's head.

She stood back up and watched as the renegade chi flew away, back to its current master. "...Alright, you can come out now."

Po was naturally the first to emerge from his hiding spot, a suspiciously large vase, and clap Tigress on the back. "Nice job! I knew you could pull it off!"

"Now we know where Kai is, and the Soothsayer can't be far," said Crane, coming out of an alleyway. "What better place to keep a prisoner than a prison?"

"Indeed. Let's get going. I'm looking forward to getting even with that creep," Tigress said darkly, cracking her knuckles.

Po's enthusiasm deflated in an instant. "Oh...right."

Mantis leapt from Crane's hat onto his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry big guy. We let Tigress distract Kai for a bit, nab the Soothsayer, and then we all get the heck out of there. Easy."

"Except for the fact that he can sense our chi," Crane pointed out.

"Hence the distraction," Tigress finished. "That is why it has to be this way, Po. I don't know why you're complaining when this was _your_ idea."

"Well, I...kinda figured _I_ would be the one to fight Kai."

"And lose the Dragon Warrior? The beacon of hope for this country? I don't think so." Still, she was impressed. He not only objected to her sacrificing herself, he wanted to do it instead. "You remember what I said before about being a hero?"

He hung his head in resignation. "It means sometimes having to do things you don't want to."

"Yes, and it also means letting others do them too." Tigress started walking away, in the direction of Gongmen Jail. "Give me five minutes and then sneak in. That should be enough time to make sure Kai is thoroughly occupied."

"And, uh..." Po hated to ask, "...what if you don't _last_ five minutes?"

Her answer was blunt. "Then leave me behind, because I clearly don't deserve to be called a warrior."

* * *

"It's time. Move, move, move!"

Shen emerged from the forest and waved one wing forward, signaling the troops to follow his lead. He had brought roughly half the army with him, large enough of a force to get the cannons out fairly quickly, but small enough that he still had some to fall back on if this plan went horribly wrong. Of course, if it _did_ go horribly wrong, his chances of coming out on top in the end were slim to none.

Under Shen's supervision, the wolves and gorillas under his command slowly snuck into the fireworks factory in small groups, ensuring they were as hard to notice as possible. Only once everyone was inside did Shen join them.

He stepped onto one of the upper balconies of the factory and saw his loyal soldiers assembled below. "Now we will begin the extraction! Start from the west side, the closest to the exit, and carry the cannons out in groups of six for the wolves, two for the gorillas! GO!"

"Yes, sir!" The troops began to do as commanded as Shen smiled in satisfaction. With this level of efficiency, he estimated that all of the weapons would be safely back in camp in a little over an hour.

Naturally, that was when things went horribly wrong.

* * *

Kai was right about one thing: Gongmen Jail was not hard to find.

Tigress grimaced at the sight of multiple mutilated corpses strewn outside the entrance to the place. She knew the only reason they hadn't been absorbed instead was because they didn't have enough chi to catch Kai's interest. This was the fate of those too weak for the yak's perverse collection. The fate of every innocent civilian in China if this monster was not stopped.

She growled and stepped forward, kicking down the front doors and leaping through, landing right on the floor of the prison.

"I just fixed that you know." Her first impression of Kai was that he was every much the overgrown calf Shen had purported him to be. Even the pout he gave her right now was distinctly childlike. He sighed and leaned back against the wall above her. "I suppose I should have just left the doors open. You are my guest after all, and I wish to be a gracious host." He smirked wickedly. "Of you _and_ your chi."

Tigress glared up at him. "Are you going to fight me, or just prattle on all night?"

He shook his head. "You mortals, so impatient. I would be too if I still had to worry about things like dying in my sleep."

"What are you doing here?" Her attention was drawn away from Kai as she noticed an elderly goat that could have only been the Soothsayer. She had to hide a reaction, but inwardly smiled, knowing that their target was right in front of her. "You cannot win, child. You will only be making Kai even stronger."

"Ssh, don't spoil the ending!" Kai scolded. "The show hasn't even begun yet."

"I'm not interested in your insipid show. I've come only to avenge my friends," Tigress challenged.

"Then let's not waste any more time." Kai leapt down from his balcony and landed across from her. He slowly walked around the feline master, swinging his blades. "With this victory, I will be one step closer to ending Oogway's legacy for good. I hope you can at least provide me a challenge. I've been greatly lacking in those lately."

"Did it ever occur to you that you're going to find less and less challenging opponents if you keep stealing chi like this? It's the element of life itself, and you're using it like a crutch. You will only ever be truly strong through your own efforts, not that of others."

"I see Oogway has taught you well." He stopped and clutched his blades. "Thanks for the advice, but I think I prefer being omnipotent. Let me show you why."

Without warning, Kai threw one blade in her direction. She sidestepped it easily, but the weapon had not been aimed at her. It caught one of the hanging cages looming behind and yanked it back towards her. This time she had to jump over the flying object as it was pulled into Kai's opposite hoof. He still wasn't done however, and she watched with a mix of awe and horror as his hoof glowed brightly, the chi energy melting the cage into a ball of molten metal. "CATCH!"

She wasn't fast enough this time. Tigress threw herself to the floor as the makeshift fireball came at her, avoiding most of it, but still being scorched by some of the hot liquid. She hissed in pain and clutched her arm, much of the fur having been burnt off.

"It's a real shame, you know," Kai said casually. "This metal isn't strong enough to serve my purposes. But no worries, _that_ problem will be taken care of soon enough."

Tigress just glared back, wondering what sinister purpose he wanted metal for.

* * *

"Lord Shen, incoming wolves!" the Chief Gorilla shouted.

"What?! I didn't call for reinforcements!"

"Not _our_ wolves!"

Shen rushed past the ape, looking out the front gates of the factory. The pack of jade wolves was rapidly approaching. "Should we arm the cannons, sir?"

"No, we can't afford to waste time or ammo on these puppets." Shen stepped forward, brandishing his guandao. "Stick with the plan. I will hold them off."

The Chief Gorilla looked like he _almost_ wanted to argue, but headed back inside anyway. Shen waited as the wolves finally reached him, surrounding him in typical pack formation. The jade Wolf Boss was the first to approach, looking at Shen as not his master, but his prey. "I see you mutts have found someone else to hold your leash. A shame you've forgotten how I punish disobedience." He swung the weapon and knocked the alpha's hammer from his paws.

"Swiftly."

The wolves reared up and attacked at once.

* * *

"What are you doing? You're barely even trying here!"

Tigress dodged back and forth around Kai's blades as he went on the attack. Truthfully, she _wasn't_ trying. As much as she wanted to get some well-deserved payback, she knew that attacking now would only end up wearing her out, and she couldn't exhaust herself this quickly. Not before their mission was complete.

Up on the balcony, the Soothsayer continued to watch, feeling more helpless than ever. She was broken out of her sorrow when a strong paw suddenly wrapped around her waist. She was thankful she didn't scream as she saw a panda enter her field of vision. "Sorry about that," he whispered. "I thought you would have seen me coming. I'm not usually this good at stealth mode."

"The panda..." she gasped. So he really _was_ here. "Why did you come here?"

"Shen sent us to get you out," he said, flinching a little at the 's-word'.

"Shen?" She looked utterly confused. "But why would you help...?"

"I know what he did and I'll explain this all later, but for now, we really need to get out of here, sir."

"I am a woman."

"Woah, sorry! I felt that beard as I was grabbing you and I thought-"

"Po!" Crane hissed from behind him.

"Right, right, let's get going."

It was quickly decided that Crane would carry the Soothsayer out, being the most evasive and the only one used to doing this regularly. Mantis sat on top of his hat, acting as his lookout. "Hold on, it might be a bumpy ride," Crane advised, grabbing the goat in his talons.

Down below, Kai finally got a chain around Tigress's leg and pulled her to him. He pinned her down with one hoof, raising his blades above her head. Tigress grabbed his wrists and tried to pull him away, but he proved too strong even for her. Before she could be skewered, she decided to fight a bit dirty and bit Kai in the arm. While he reeled back, in shock more than pain, she slipped out from under him and landed a kick to the side of his head. The blow hurt her more than it did him, and Kai struck back with a swing of his horns that threw Tigress across the room.

"I suppose there was only so much I could expect at this point. To be fair, you did last more than thirty seconds. That's more than I could say for the others."

As he started towards her, his eyes flashed, a signal from his wolves. "Not now, guys! I'm kinda in the middle of something!" As he beat a hoof against his head, trying to clear the feedback, his chi senses focused and he suddenly realized that there were more people in the room than he thought. He looked up and saw the very incriminating image of a large bird carrying his hostage out of the building. "HEY!"

"Crap, time to go!" Mantis shouted. Crane immediately had to dodge a thrown blade, taking off a few feathers.

"You seriously did all of this just to get the old lady back?! Do you really want to know your future _that_ badly?! Because I can tell you that right now: YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!" Tigress tackled him from behind at that moment. She failed to knock him over, but grabbed him by the horns and started trying to pull him down to the ground anyway.

"So _cool_!" Po said giddily.

"Po, seriously, let's go!" He saw Crane and Mantis escape through the front of the building, Soothsayer in tow. He jumped off and ran after them, stopping just before he made it to the door and turning back. "Tigress, come o-"

He froze. Kai held Tigress in front of him, one hoof on the back of her neck and the other holding a blade dangerously close to her throat. "I don't think so, Dragon Warrior. You're the one Oogway warned me about, aren't you? The great hero that's going to defeat the big bad yak." He chuckled, moving his blade up so it lifted Tigress's head. "But if there's one thing I know about great heroes, it's that you're real suckers for the damsel in distress routine. You take one more step out of this building and I take the pretty kitty's head. And trust me, that's not going to fit on my belt."

"Po, don't even think about it!" Tigress choked out. "Get out of here now!"

The panda was rooted to the spot, looking back towards the exit, and then to the captive feline. "I...I'm sorry, Tigress." Against her wishes, and his own better judgement, he got into his stance.

"You see? He _does_ care!" Kai taunted.

Then he stole Tigress's chi.

"NO!"

Po almost collapsed to his knees as he saw Tigress's being disappear into Kai. The yak looked at him, feigning surprise. "What? I said I wouldn't kill her, didn't I?" He held up his new amulet, letting him see the unmistakable face of Master Tigress molded into a frozen roar. "What do you think? Careful, women don't like it when you insult their jewelry."

"Give her back!" Po yelled, feeling anger start to take over once again.

"If you insist."

Po watched, horrified, as the small amulet slowly transformed into a jombie of Tigress. Despite her earlier concern, the tiger's new face showed no sign of sympathy.

"I warned you. Now you've gone and upset her. I'll just let you two work out this little dispute. Have fun!" Kai hopped back up to his previous seat and made himself comfortable. "What do you know, this is turning out to be quite the show after all!"

Po looked back over his shoulder, tempted to make a run for it. That was still the smartest move for him.

But if he ran now...then he had just let this happen to Tigress for nothing.

He remained in his stance, getting ready to face off with the jade Tigress standing across the floor from him.

"Ready."

* * *

 _Because I have to pervert ALL of the big Po/Tigress moments apparently. Why not the jail scene too?_

 _Expect another massive chapter next time for the climax._


	14. Past and Present

_The time has come! Another giant-ass chapter to wrap up Day 2! Hope you enjoy the longest chapter yet._

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Past and Present**

At first, it seemed like the mission had gone off without a hitch.

Masters Crane and Mantis made a beeline out of Gongmen City and straight towards the forest where Lord Shen's camp was stationed, taking the Soothsayer along for the ride. The old goat proved surprisingly durable and showed little signs of distress even at the speed they were going, which was fast enough that they easily outpaced any of Kai's jombies that happened to spot them. They finally breached the edge of the city and headed for the woods, seeing no signs of pursuit behind them. It seemed that everything had gone just as-

"Where's Po?"

-horribly as expected.

Crane stopped in mid-air, looking across the city behind him. "Maybe he just hasn't caught up yet," he suggested. "He isn't exactly known for his incredible speed."

"Uh huh," Mantis said, clearly not buying it. "But I'm pretty sure a giant black and white puffball running for his life would be pretty noticeable at least. I don't think he made it out of there."

"Come on, you really think a few life-sized jade figurines could stop the Dragon Warrior? If anything, they should be afraid of _him,_ " Crane laughed to himself, that laugh becoming increasingly forced. "...Ah crap. He tried to play hero again, didn't he?"

"I'm thinking so, yes." As painful as it was to accept, they had an unspoken agreement that saving Tigress was the lowest priority of the mission. She had gone into this with the full knowledge that she would likely not be coming back, but Po was evidently not on the same page.

"What do we do now? We can't just ditch him!"

"Actually...I think we might have to." Crane sighed heavily, nearly flinging Mantis off. "Tigress said it herself. It's about the greater good. The fact is, if we go back to help Po, that only increases the chances of _none_ of us making it back. And if that happens, all of China is done for, by either Kai _or_ Shen's hand. Besides, we can't risk harming the Soothsayer any more than we already have."

"Thank you for your consideration, Master Crane." The goat looked up from within his talons. "I apologize for putting you in this predicament."

Despite being the most pessimistic of them all, it was Mantis who offered some reassurance. "Hey, there's nothing to worry about. The big guy can take care of himself. Plus he's got Tigress with him, right? He'll be fine as long as she's there to have his back."

* * *

"Tigress, seriously, stop trying to kill me!"

Po ducked another fierce swipe from the jade feline, who continued to ignore his pleas for mercy. To be fair, the real Tigress fought the same way.

Po finally countered with a belly bounce that threw Tigress into one of the jail's support columns. But despite the damage that did to the column, Tigress was unfazed, getting back up and cracking her neck left and right to shake off the dust. She pounced right at Po, aiming to sink her fangs into his shoulder. He just managed to move it out of the way, only for her to clamp onto his arm instead. "GAH! OFF! OFF! OFF!" He shook his arm frantically, trying to dislodge the tiger. He was starting to think he needed a better plan.

"Quite the feisty one, isn't she?" Kai asked, greatly amused. "I estimate that she may even be the third-strongest of my soldiers. But that position is still open, Dragon Warrior. Don't give up yet!" His eyes flashed again. "I said LATER, guys! Quit bugging me!"

It was around this point that Po realized he didn't _have_ a plan. If he lost, he would get jombified. If he won, he would wear himself out and _then_ get jombified. This was exactly the kind of impulsive recklessness Tigress had warned him about. If she were still herself, she would just be attacking him verbally instead of physically. Or possibly both.

Po swung Tigress into the wall of the prison, finally getting her to release his arm, now covered in bleeding bite wounds. Po winced at the sight. "Owww, is this how prey animals used to feel back in the old days?"

Kai perked up, leaning in closer. "What's that? You want to hear about the old days?"

 _General Kai didn't know much about military strategy, outside of how to best pummel his foes into submission, but one thing he always understood perfectly was the value of rest. Even someone as mighty as himself still needed to take a breather every now and then._

 _Well, he didn't NOW, but that wasn't the point._

 _The army was currently camped out in what General Oogway referred to as "the calm before the storm" or "the pinnacle between the ires of battle". Kai preferred to simply call it what is was: smack dab in the middle of nowhere. But that was okay, because being in the middle of nowhere meant that it was unlikely for anyone to bother them out here. "Bother" was really the best way to put it, as it wasn't like anyone could seriously "threaten" them anymore. It had taken many long, grueling years, but they had become powerful enough to seriously match the Imperial Army, if not defeat them outright. It was only a matter of time until the whole empire was theirs for the taking._

 _And to think, they actually used to WORK for those jokers. Their army had initially been created from a few hundred low-level recruits for the purpose of suppressing a rebellion against the Emperor. Soon enough, they realized that they were essentially being used as bait so the "real" soldiers wouldn't have to get their paws dirty. Naturally, it was Oogway who figured this out, but it was Kai who decided to take action. These two figures stepped up and took charge, merging the armies together to create an even bigger, more powerful force, turning a simple rebellion into an all-out war. A war that they were now winning._

 _Like many things, Kai found this hilarious._

 _But despite their legendary prowess, they were not invincible. That was a lesson Kai learned the hard way. Their latest battle had been won at a cost. A relatively minor cost, but one that affected him more deeply than anything else possibly could._

 _Oogway had been hurt._

 _For the longest time, he had thought the tortoise was indeed invincible. Aside from literally being clad in two sets of armor, one natural and one man-made, he possessed such immense wisdom of the battlefield that it was rare for an enemy to even scratch his skin, let alone pierce it. Let alone THIS._

 _"Why do you look so glum, brother? It was merely one arrow." Oogway lied on a cot, his left arm bandaged at the elbow. Kai was the only one in the tent with him, after he had not-so-politely told the medics to piss off._

 _"That one arrow is going to keep you from using your arm for weeks."_

 _"It is okay. I have another."_

 _"That's not the point!" Kai stomped a hoof into the ground. "The point is that you are hurt! Hurt because I failed to protect you!"_

 _"Is that what you believe?" Oogway actually looked surprised. "Kai, you could not have predicted this would happen. This is a war. Just because we have gone through most battles unscathed, that does not mean all battles will be the same._ _Just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions."_

 _"Well that doesn't mean I have to accept it," Kai huffed, crossing his arms. "I SAW that arrow coming for you! If I was just a bit faster, or stronger, I could have done something to stop it."_

 _"Brother..."_

 _"You always do this, you know. You brush off everything that happens, no matter how serious, with a smile and a cute little proverb. I'm supposed to be the jokester here, but at least I know how to take care of myself! Frankly, I'm starting to think I care more about your safety than YOU do!"_

 _"There's no need to be so concerned," Oogway insisted. "I have taught the army well. Even if something happened, I have every faith that my knowledge will survive forever."_

 _"You don't get it, do you?!" Kai stepped closer, looming threateningly over Oogway's bed. "This isn't about the freaking army! They can all go to Hell before I'll ever let you follow them! They might be able to function without you, but I can't!"_

 _Oogway just stared up at him, stunned into silence. Kai's head drooped, his breath hitching. He couldn't stand to even look his brother in the eye anymore. "_ _Do you know what I am without you, Oogway? Just a big angry guy with a spear and a bad sense of humor. That's all I've ever been for a long, long time. I used to be okay with that too, I really did. But now that I have a true brother in arms, someone who can accept me for who I am, I'm not willing to let you go that easily. I can't go back to just being ME anymore!"_

 _It took Oogway a second to realize that Kai was actually crying. He doubted that anyone, including himself, would ever see this sight again. He reached out and laid a hand on his trembling arm. "Kai...you know it's the same way for me, but this level of concern is not healthy."_

 _He shook his head bitterly. "No, it's not the same. You have other friends, but I've only ever had you. You are the only meaningful thing I have in this chaotic life of mine, and once you're gone, that's it. I'm not ever going to find someone like you again." He raised his head to glare at him. As suddenly as he had shown his vulnerable side, it was gone. "Tell me Oogway, do you have a proverb about that?"_

 _Oogway bit his lip. As a matter of fact, he did. "...Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content." He paused. "_ _But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life."_

 _"Oh, so you DO get it." Kai turned around and stormed out of the tent, stopping just as he pulled open the flap. "You better start looking out for yourself brother, because if something like this ever happens again..."_

 _He looked straight at Oogway, narrowing his eyes_ _ominously._

 _"...I'll do whatever I have to do."_

Kai sighed, shaking his head. That was not the story he wanted to tell, but it was the first one to come to mind and he couldn't leave it unfinished. "Unfortunately, that warning wasn't enough. It was only a few weeks later when-ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

He watched as Po kicked Tigress away again, now covered in even more cuts and bites. The panda looked up at him, dumbfounded. "Of _course_ I wasn't listening to you! If you wanted me to hear your story, you should have told Tigress to stop mauling me first!" Po was promptly attacked again and tackled to the ground.

"Excuse me for thinking that the legendary Dragon Warrior possessed the ability to multi-task! I guess not listening to me is something else you learned from Oogway!"

Po struggled to keep Tigress's jaws away from his throat. "Wait, what does Master Oogway have to do with this?"

"OH THAT IS IT!" Kai stood up abruptly, snarling in rage. "Tigress, stop! I am going to finish off this miserable panda mys-" His eyes flashed. Kai finally, and quite indignantly, connected to his jade wolves. "WHAT IS IT?! What is _so_ freaking important that you need to keep bothering- _SHEN?!_ "

* * *

"Greetings, Kai."

Shen stood casually atop a pile of jade wolves as he stared down his former lieutenant. The Wolf Boss looked even less in touch with reality than usual as his eyes glowed and his jaw dropped. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

"Is that any to treat an old friend?" Shen asked, scraping his guandao lightly across the wolf's throat. "And here I thought you _wanted_ me back. Isn't that why you kidnapped my Soothsayer?"

"It was, but that doesn't matter to me anymore," Kai chuckled. "I didn't think you'd be cowardly enough to send Oogway's brats in your place, but I suppose I can't complain when this is turning out even better than I hoped for." The Wolf Boss suddenly grabbed the blade of the guandao, its sharp surface only scratching his jade paw. "So you can take the old hag! She's been starting to annoy me anyway."

"So it's not just _me_ she annoys. Good to know." In one swift motion, Shen stabbed the guandao into the Wolf Boss's chin, loosening his grip enough for him to yank the weapon out of his grasp, spin it once, and bash him over the head with it. "Thanks for letting me know that she's safe, by the way. You were never very good at strategy, were you?"

The wolf's face scowled. "Shut up." He lunged for the bird, jaws wide. Shen scooped him up on the guandao and threw him into the rest of the pack, knocking them apart like a set of bowling pins. Shen smirked in satisfaction, up until he noticed the wolves getting back to their feet, a bit scratched up but otherwise looking no worse for wear.

"Do you see the advantage of immortal soldiers?" Kai asked, now speaking through every wolf at once. "No hesitation, no fear, no will of their own. I do all of the thinking for them!"

"Hardly sounds like an advantage."

"YOU'RE DEAD, BIRD!"

The wolves all lunged for him at once. Shen vaulted himself away and watched them crash into each other. "Hmph. You're going to have to do better than that if you want _my_ weapons Kai!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'm just getting started with...wait, did you say weapons? Plural?"

Shen stared at them, baffled. "Isn't that what you're here for?"

It was the first time he had ever seen a statue look embarrassed. "I, uh...yes, of course! YOUR WEAPONS WILL BE MINE!"

Shen had to wonder which of them was the bigger fool in this scenario.

* * *

"Freaky."

Po stared up at Kai, weirded out by the yak who seemed to be having a lengthy conversation with himself. He knew the guy was crazy, but not to _this_ degree.

He suddenly realized he had taken his focus off of Tigress and spun around to face her, seeing the jade feline crouched into a tiger-style stance. Po got into his own stance and waited for the attack.

And waited.

...And waited some more.

It soon became clear that Tigress wasn't attacking. In fact, she wasn't doing anything at all. She was just standing there, still as a, well, statue. When Kai ordered her to "stop", she had apparently taken it very literally. Just to be sure, Po hesitantly waved his paw in front of her face. When it didn't get bitten off, he knew he was safe. As safe as he _could_ be in this situation anyway, which was not the kind of safe he was looking for. If nothing else, it was at least a reprieve to consider his options, limited as they were.

But no matter how many times he went over it in his head, there was only one option that seemed even remotely probable.

He sighed. "Look Tigress, I know you can't hear me right now, but I just want you to know that I'm really sorry." He found it hard to look into her softly glowing eyes. "Sorry for letting this happen to you, sorry for being my usual dumb self, sorry for failing as a hero. But what I'm most sorry about is that I think I'm going to have to leave you here." Her unresponsive face spoke volumes to him. "Not forever! Just until we can come back and beat up Kai. I mean, partnering up with Shen's gonna be hard, but I'll do it for you. I promise."

Still a bit wary, Po leaned in and gave her a quick hug, shuddering from the unnatural feel. "Right. So, uh, I'm gonna get going now." He started to back away.

"Don't go, Po."

He froze. "...Tigress?"

"Stay here with me."

"Aw geez, I didn't know you could still talk," he groaned. "This is so much more awkward now. I told you, I can't stay here. I have to leave."

"But there is still one thing you need to do for me first."

Po leaned in warily. "Like what?"

"...You need to surrender your chi."

He shot back. "Wait, what? Why would I want to-KAI!"

The yak had a surreal expression on his face, as if he couldn't decide whether he found this amusing or just pathetic. "Yeah, I'm still here, dumbass! Hate to ruin your little moment, but there's a time and a place for this kind of thing and now isn't it!"

He looked back and forth between the two, his face softening. "Still...that kind of comradery you share...I must say it's very noble. I know what that's like, to be so close to another warrior, to find someone who understands you on such a personal level, who is willing to fight by your side no matter the cost." He smiled, almost warmly. "I'm actually a bit envious, you know. I would have preferred _my_ comrade to be taken from me by an enemy rather than keeping him around long enough to betray me himself. If I knew that back then, I could've saved myself a lot of grief. But seeing you two now, it makes me remember all those good times we shared and-oh forget it, rip his throat out."

In an instant, Tigress regained her mobility and made a slash at Po's neck. The panda yelped and jumped away as the feline's claws came way too close for comfort, shaving off a bit of his neck fur. He leapt back with a kick to the tiger's chest, sending her skidding into the opposite wall. "NicetalkingtoyouTigressrunningnowbye!"

Po made a dash for the lower doors, but found his left arm suddenly wrapped up in a chain. "You're not going anywhere, Dragon Warrior. You will be one of the greatest jewels in my collection!" Kai laughed.

"Thanks for the offer. Not interested!" Po tugged at the chain, but Kai held him firm with almost laughable ease. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Tigress charging him on all fours and pulled even harder. Seeing that he indeed wasn't going anywhere, he stopped trying to get away and instead moved in closer. As Tigress pounced once more, Po dodged at the last second and clotheslined her with the chain.

Tigress swept a leg and tried to trip him up, but Po jumped to avoid it, then dodged to the side as she sprang back up again. As she came in for another bite, Po decided to put her immense jaws to good use and allowed her to clamp down on the chain, then kicked her hard in the chest. The resulting blow not only hurt his foot, it broke the chain apart and freed him.

"Will you people stop breaking all my stuff?!" Kai yelled. "Great, now I need even _more_ metal..."

Po yanked the remaining chains off of his arm and made a run for it again. Just before he reached the doors to freedom, Tigress leapt the full distance of the room and landed directly in front of him. With a growl that sounded more like the clinking of jade, she extended her paws into a defensive stance this time. "Playing the defender this time, huh? Then I guess _I'll_ have to be the attacker!" As he charged towards her, Po pulled one arm back and threw a punch as hard as he could into Tigress's open palm.

His resulting scream of pain made Kai burst out laughing. Po fell to his knees, clutching his bruised paw. That didn't work when she was mortal, why the heck did he think it would work now?!

Before he could answer that question, Tigress kneed him in the chin and knocked him to his back. She leapt on top of him, pinning down his arms and legs and roaring in his face. "Uh...I'm sorry about that too?"

He heard a heavy thud as Kai dropped down to the floor next to him. "Still trying to get through to her, are we? Take my advice, panda, these kinds of attachments are only going to cause you pain in the end. You're better off forgetting all about her, and the rest of your friends as well." He lifted a glowing hoof toward Po's face, and the panda gasped as he saw his arms beginning to turn to jade. "But don't worry, you won't have to think about them ever again. In fact, you won't have to think _at all!"_

"Not on my watch!"

Not since his first day at the Jade Palace had Po ever seen someone so large get tossed across the room so easily. So before Kai had even hit the wall, he knew exactly who it was who had rescued him. "Master Shifu!"

* * *

Shen had to admit, this was not one of his better ideas.

Yes, fighting off these wolves was proving an invaluable diversion for getting his weapons safely out of here, but it would be completely wasted if he himself couldn't escape. He certainly didn't trust the dumb mutts and lumbering apes to win this war on their own. It occurred to him that the kung fu masters currently fighting Kai probably shared a similar sentiment. This was the closest he had come in a long time to understanding the concept of empathy.

Ducking under another wolf, Shen extended his train and tripped him, then jabbed the back of his gunadao into another wolf's chest. Shen jumped over a third wolf's lunge, then vaulted over his back to land on a fourth. But no matter how many times he knocked these things down, he failed to do anything more than scratch them. It was times like this that he cursed his own frail body. At least Kai wasn't watching him anymore. Whatever those masters were doing to distract him, it was clearly working.

And if _they_ could do their part, then he had no excuse to fail.

He turned on his heels as the Wolf Boss came at him now, swinging his hammer at him in a wide arc. Shen leapt clear over him, suddenly getting a stroke of inspiration. Waiting for the alpha wolf to make another swing, Shen strategically placed himself right in front of another wolf, and ducked. The real Wolf Boss would never endanger his own pack, but this cheap knock-off had no problem bashing the other wolf's head clean off. Repeating the tactic, Shen watched as another wolf was split in half at the torso.

Struggling to catch his breath, he was caught by surprise when a wolf nailed him in the back and knocked him to the ground. It appeared that even this final effort had not been enough. With no efficient way to put these things down for good, it was only a matter of time before one of them finally got the drop on him.

He could see the Wolf Boss grinning to himself as he lifted the hammer high above him.

"You're fired."

But as he saw the giant weapon looming over his head, he started to feel, as he had felt far too often now, that this was somehow...familiar.

 _"You're right. Then I choose...THIS!"_

 _Shen withdrew three knives and sprung up, ferociously attacking the damned panda who had ruined everything._

 _The filthy creature was forced on the defensive, dodging away from all of this attacks. But he couldn't dodge forever. Letting out a cry of outrage as the panda actually dared to GRAB him, Shen lashed out and sliced open a small cut on his cheek, sending strands of fur into the air. That was nowhere near enough for him, and he flung even more blades that the panda blocked with a piece of wood from the deck._

 _There would be no mercy. Not for him. Shen grabbed his fallen guandao and attacked even more savagely, determined to exact his vengeance. He was SO blinded by fury in fact, that he failed to notice his blade slicing through the ropes that held up the remnants of his ship. He was oblivious to the loud snapping and creaking as the wood gave way and the massive cannon balanced on top began to shift._

 _When he did notice, it was already too late. As the panda rolled away to safety, Shen looked up, seeing the symbol of his empire finally collapse...right on top of him._

 _So this was how it was going to end. It was only fitting really. If he couldn't have his victory, this was the only other option he would accept. In this brief moment, his last, Shen had found peace._

 _He closed his eyes and waited for the end to come._

A loud boom made his eyes open again. As he snapped back to reality, he saw that the Wolf Boss had been blown to pieces right in front of him. The shock left him so disoriented that the other wolves could have easily gone for the attack had they not been blasted apart immediately afterwards.

"I hope you're not going to complain about this," the Chief Gorilla said, laying his hand on the surface of a cannon. Two other gorillas manned other cannons at his sides. "Seriously, don't."

Shen got back up, dusting himself off. "Are those the only cannons left?" He wouldn't complain _yet,_ but if he had wasted all of that effort for nothing, heads were going to roll.

"Don't worry, the others are already safe and sound. They should all be wheeling into camp by now."

"Good. Then let's not waste anymore time here." Shen signaled them to start taking the remaining three cannons away. Almost dying aside, the operation had gone fairly well. _Too_ well actually. He was expecting much worse. Like actually dying.

He couldn't repress a shudder. That latest vision disturbed him greatly. It apparently wasn't enough for his mind to keep remembering things that never happened; now it had to start preying on his fears as well. Was that supposed to be a premonition of his supposed death? No, that was completely different from what the Soothsayer predicted. And as his instincts continued to insist despite all rational logic, this was an event that had already happened.

His death.

Perhaps he really was just crazy. After all, he was quite clearly alive.

 **Are you _sure_ about that? **

* * *

"You're all just crawling right out of the woodwork, aren't ya?"

Kai pulled himself out of the wall, looking royally ticked-off, but otherwise unharmed. He glared over at the red panda who had attacked him, now brandishing a wooden staff at him. He felt an extra tinge of hatred at the sight of his familiar green robes. "You must be Shifu. You have a lot of fans in the Spirit Realm. Almost as many as Oogway himself."

"Seriously, what is your _deal_ with Oogway?" asked Po, still pinned under Tigress.

"He is Master Oogway's former best friend and brother-in-arms, now returned to the mortal coil," Shifu answered, trying not to look at what had become of his adopted daughter.

"Woah, seriously?!" Po yelled, not sure if he should be excited about this or even more horrified.

"So you know who I am?" Kai asked curiously. "A little while ago, that might have really meant something to me. Now I just don't even care anymore." He waved his hoof.

Tigress stood up at her master's command and disappeared into chi, merging back into Kai. Shifu clenched his teeth, his eyes demanding vengeance. "You are going to pay dearly for this, Kai."

"Yeah, yeah." Kai gripped the chain of his remaining sword between both hooves. "I've had a long day, so let's just skip to the part where I take your chi and be done with it."

"Po, watch out!" Shifu kicked the panda out of the way of Kai's sword as it sped past him, but Kai had expected this and adjusted his grip, swinging the chain into the airborne Shifu. As the new Grandmaster flipped around in midair and landed on his feet, Kai leapt in to fight him with his own hooves. The miniature master ducked and dodged around Kai's attacks, showing a speed so impressive that even the tortoise couldn't pull it off.

If he weren't talking about Oogway, that would have sounded pretty silly.

Kai growled and swung his arm at Shifu's head, but he easily ducked the swing and shot up with several tiny kicks to his chin. Kai attempted a headbutt to retaliate, but Shifu was already gone by the time he did it, and countered by stabbing his staff into the yak's gut. Though these blows barely hurt him, it was a lot like being by swarmed by a mosquito: annoying and rash-inducing.

Even when so much else had changed however, there were always constants. Shifu still caught a glimpse of Oogway's amulet, and he still hesitated just long enough for Kai to finally strike back. He grabbed Shifu by the scruff of his neck and threw him roughly at the charging Po's belly, knocking the panda to the floor and bouncing Shifu right back into his hoof. With his other arm, he threw out his blade and wrapped it around the dazed panda's neck, pulling him to his knees. Po choked, unable to remove the chain.

"See how much quicker this is without the banter?" Kai asked, watching them both try in vain to escape his grasp. It was amazing how non-threatening someone could be once you had them by the throat.

"You..." Shifu gasped, abruptly ceasing his struggles.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Oh _here_ we go..."

"Your chi..." Shifu's paws glowed faintly.

"It's an impressive collection, I know. You get to be a part of it too."

"Your chi is tainted."

"I imagine it would be." Seriously, was this guy ever going to shut up?

But Shifu had sensed something. His ability to sense chi wasn't nearly as strong as Kai or the late Master Oogway, but at this close proximity, he could sense something _very_ wrong with Kai, something even the yak himself didn't seem to be aware of. "No, not the chi you stole...but your own."

"What?" This was not at all what he expected, but on the merit of being something different at least, he decided to humor him. "How so?"

"The shadow of death clings to you," Shifu said, trying to pinpoint this strange sensation that chilled him to the bone. "It's as if your own chi, your own _soul,_ is being slowly pulled away." His eyes widened in horror. "What...what did you _do_ to escape the Spirit Realm?"

Kai growled. This was the second time he had been asked this question, and he was starting to get really sick of it. "None of your business, old man!"

"Wait, what? You mean Kai's chi is even more screwed-up than we thought?" Po asked, as curious as ever despite being strangled.

"I'm telling you IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Kai yelled, shaking the old master violently. "All that matters to me is getting my revenge on Oogway! I'll do anything to achieve that, even if it means making a deal with a demon!"

Kai suddenly froze, as if his muscles had all just locked up on their own volition. "Wha...what's happening to me?"

 **Ah ah ah. Your contract included a non-disclosure agreement. I'm afraid you have just violated our terms, Mr. Kai.**

What happened next was an experience none of them would soon forget.

Shifu was abruptly dropped to the ground as Kai reeled back, screaming. Po finally managed to slip the chain off and gasped, trying to catch his breath.

He nearly lost it again when he saw Kai. There was only a certain way you could react to someone being attacked by their own shadow. Kai clutched his head and screamed again and again, clearly in immense pain. Shadowy tendrils crawled up and down his body, as if trying to tether him to the ground. Unbeknownst to either of the masters, a voice spoke inside his head, one that he could understand perfectly even over the sounds of his own agony.

 **I believe you need a reminder of who's in control here. I would prefer not to discipline you, but you leave me no choice.**

Kai thrashed around wildly, screaming even louder as the shadows grew more intense, beginning to spread around to the floors and walls.

Po backed away slowly, trying not to step on any. "Master Shifu...what's going on?" he asked, thoroughly freaked out.

His master's response did not reassure him. "I have no idea."

Even trapped in the center of this dark vortex, Kai proved as stubborn as always. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU CREEPY BASTARD!"

 **Now why would I do that when you were so gracious as to lend it to me, Mr. Kai?**

Kai's right arm rose without his consent, his hoof gripping the discarded chain.

 **I suggest you read the fine print next time.**

His arm swung erratically to the left, causing the chain sword to fly around the room. Po quickly ducked under the blade, but Shifu was small enough that it missed him anyway. The blade continued to swing upwards, through several support columns, striking against the walls with powerful chi energy. The result was a very unnerving rumbling sound. "I think it might be better to run first, ask questions later," came the wisdom of the Dragon Warrior.

"Agreed." The Grandmaster kicked open the front doors of the prison and rushed out, Po right behind him. The panda only stopped to take one last glance over his shoulder, a decision he immediately regretted.

Kai had dropped to his knees, exhausted. The shadows were gone from his body and the surrounding room. Instead, they had contorted into a sinister silhouette looming directly over him. A silhouette with large wings, pointed ears, and glowing purple eyes. Whatever this thing was, it noticed Po watching, and smiled at the panda with needle-like teeth.

 **"Hello there."**

Po ran like hell.

* * *

"What was that?!"

Shen whirled around at the sound of a loud crash. Or perhaps it wasn't so loud and he was just incredibly jumpy right now. Either way it was enough to get his attention. As he looked over the city, he saw a giant cloud of dust kick up in the distance...directly in the vicinity of Gongmen Jail.

It didn't take him long to put two and two together. His eyes widened and his beak started to quiver. "No..."

"Shen!"

Startled again, the peacock looked up to see another bird flying above him, carrying a very familiar face. So they had pulled it off after all. "You _are_ still alive," the Soothsayer said, relieved.

To think that she had been worried about _him_ all this time.

"Put her down!" Shen demanded. He imagined the old goat had dealt with enough perilous heights by now.

Crane gently lowered the Soothsayer to the ground and almost immediately took off again. He was probably heading back to camp in hopes of finding the other masters, but Shen couldn't care less about them right now. The only one who mattered was right in front of him. "I'm...pleased that you alright," he said, showing a smile that didn't quite reach.

Knowing that this was the best she was going to get out of him, the Soothsayer just walked up to him and wrapped her small form around his body. Hugging was not a privilege he typically allowed, but in this one moment, he would make an exception. She had been through enough to warrant this much at least. It was forced and extremely awkward, but Shen hugged her back anyway.

For all of two seconds. "Alright, enough of this foolishness. We have preparations to discuss."

Along with many, many other things.

* * *

"They're really gone, aren't they?" Crane finally broke the oppressive silence between him and the bug. They sat at the edge of Shen's camp, watching the army celebrate their victory over Kai, a victory they had very little hand in. To the two masters though, it wasn't much of a victory at all.

"How is it that of all the warriors in the Jade Palace, the two of us are the only ones still alive?" Mantis asked despondently.

"They're not dead," Crane reminded him, though not very forcefully.

"They might as well be if we're the only ones left who can stop Kai. I don't know about you, but I don't like our chances right now, not even with these giant metal death wagons."

"Maybe we should retreat," Crane said, grabbing his attention. "Not to run away," he clarified, "just to report back to Master Shifu. He might know something about this at least."

"Yeah, yeah you're right!" Mantis replied, perking up slightly. "If anyone can help us out right now, he can!"

"Then I have good news and bad news for you, Master Mantis."

Crane squawked and fell backwards, hitting Mantis into a tree and knocking him from his hat. The bug crawled back onto his tiny legs, shocked to see not only Master Shifu, but Po as well, standing in front of them. "The good news is that I'm already here, and I know everything we'll need to about Kai."

Any hope they got from that statement was diminished when they saw the grim look on their master's face, and an even grimmer one from Po.

"The bad news is that I'm no longer certain Kai is the one we should be worried about."

* * *

 _On one side, Lord Shen marched back into the forest with his troops, advanced weaponry and aged seer alongside him. The time for action was about to arise, and it seemed he would play his part perfectly._

 _On the other side, Kai the Collector pulled himself from the rubble of another failed hideout, sulking off to cause more mindless destruction. He was shaken, but not deterred. Exactly how he wanted him. No further discipline should be required._

 _Shen and Kai. They were two sides of the same coin, and he got to see them both at once._

 _From within his realm of nothingness, a void of endless dark, he raised a single clawed hand. A pair of parchments materialized above it, both sealed up neatly in black casings. How astounding that two little signatures could change so much._

 **"Only one day remains. I wonder how this will all turn out..."**

* * *

 _Be honest, how many of you forgot about Shifu?_

 _It's been a while since we've seen General Kai and General Oogway as well. I kept trying to find a place for another of these flashbacks because they're just so much fun, but aside from that one with Kai in the Spirit Realm, I couldn't find a good spot for it until now. I realize that certain parts of the pandom may read more than I intended into this particular one. For the record, I am not on board with the whole 'Kaiway' craze, but I do find Kai's relationship with Oogway more than a little obsessive. While I see Kai as a textbook sociopath, even those can have at least one person they genuinely care about, and for whom they will do horrible, horrible things to keep safe. You can probably see where I'm going with this, but I won't elaborate until later._

 _A lot of shit went down in this chapter, and a lot more is going to go down before this story is over. So what awaits on the third and final day? More action, more drama, and more answers, including the identity of our nosy bold-faced buddy. And perhaps the appearance of another villain you may not have expected. Yes, I love teasing my audience. Why do you ask?_


	15. The Final Day

_Time to start Day 3! It's probably going to be the longest day by a fair margin, so let's get right into it shall we?_

* * *

 **Chapter 15: The Final Day**

 _"That's impossible...and you know it!"_

 _"There ARE no more pandas!"_

 _"I'm not afraid. He's coming to me in chains!"_

 _"You really think that THIS is the warrior destined to defeat me?"_

 _"The only reason you're still alive is that I find your... stupidity... mildly amusing."_

 _"Yes...yes I was."_

 _"Run, run, little panda!"_

 _"Call in the wolves, all of them! I want them ready to move! The year of the peacock begins now!"_

 _"The dead exist in the past... and I must attend to the future."_

 _"But here... let me heal you."_

 _"How many times do I have to kill the same stinking panda?!"_

 _"I SAID FIRE AT THEM! FIRE!"_

 _"H-how did you...how did you do it?"_

 _"You're right. Then I choose...THIS!"_

 **"And so it shall be...like it never was..."**

Shen woke with a start, scrambling up onto his talons. One wing on his forehead, he staggered over and leaned on the edge of the tent, trying to catch his breath. He knew he had just experienced the visions again, and in greater depth than ever, but already he felt those fleeting memories start to fade back into the recesses of his mind, leaving him with nothing but bits and pieces. When he managed to get track of his thoughts again, there was only one thing he knew for sure.

"I'm going to die today."

There were certainly better thoughts to wake up to, yet Shen found that he was strangely calm about this. Perhaps it was because he had been given the time to stew it over, coming to terms with what fate had in store for him. Surely, it was easier to accept one's death when they knew in advance that it was coming. He had been through so many close calls already that it was hardly a surprise anymore.

That didn't mean he was _giving up_ by any means. No, of course not. What kind of warlord would he be if he just rolled over and died for some buffoonish yak and his toy soldiers? He had his weapons, and he knew how to use them. He had his army, and he knew how to lead them. He had his pride, and he would never lose it. If it truly was his fate to die, then he would be sure to give Kai one hell of a show first!

Shen clutched his guandao tightly as he emerged slowly from his tent.

One way or another, this was going to end today.

* * *

After returning from Gongmen City the previous night, the Jade Palace masters had gone straight to bed.

Or tried to anyway. After everything that had happened, including that ominous warning from Po and Shifu that they refused to elaborate on, sleep was a difficult task indeed. Even Po had trouble getting some shut-eye and he could usually fall asleep within literal seconds. It didn't help that they were still in enemy territory, even if that enemy wasn't an enemy for the time being.

Not to mention that the wolves _snored_.

So when the sun rose the next morning, it was almost a relief. At least they didn't have to pretend they were getting any kind of rest now. It seemed that Shen had the same idea, as they saw him emerge from his tent and let loose a loud peacock's cry for the sole purpose of waking up the entire camp. It certainly worked, if the chorus of grumbled complaints and lumbering bodies was any indication, but it still seemed a bit excessive. He wasn't in _that_ much of a hurry, was he?

Despite the overcrowded campground though, it still felt lonely. The masters had already lost half of their team, and if Shifu hadn't shown up when he did, it could have been even worse. The old master provided support, in more ways than one. Ever since Po had helped him to overcome his personal demons, Shifu had done a surprisingly good job of filling in Oogway's shoes as a source of spiritual guidance in trying times. And these were very trying times indeed.

He was well aware of this too, which was why he insisted on a private meeting with his students as soon as they got through the meager breakfast provided by the army's rations. Shifu led his disciples into an abandoned house, the same one that Po had formerly been restrained to. No one told him this place had any such significance, so it was either a coincidence, or he just somehow knew anyway. Personally, they were all leaning more towards the latter.

"Good morning students, it is a pleasure to see you again." Shifu wasn't normally this polite, even now, but trying times...

"Good morning master," they chorused back, with notably less vigor than usual.

Shifu frowned, but this was to be expected. "I won't beat around the bush, the situation is dire. However, I have brought information that I believe will be essential to our victory over Kai."

The red panda retrieved a large scroll, which he unfurled in front of his students. He was pleased to see them, if not reassured, as least curious about what he had to show. He spent the next several minutes recounting the tale of Oogway and Kai, their former history as brutal warlords, Oogway's tragic injury and call to enlightenment, and finally the battle that tore the two friends apart for good. He was grateful that they did not interrupt him, though he saw distinct interest at the mention of other pandas, especially from Po.

"Should he ever return to the mortal realm, he can only be stopped by a true master of chi," Shifu finished, closing the scroll. "As you can see, we've got our work cut out for us this time."

"Don't need to tell _us_ twice," Mantis muttered.

"Wait, you can use chi, right Master Shifu?" Po asked hopefully. "I saw you use in on Kai back in the prison."

Shifu sighed heavily, leaning into his staff. "I wish it were that simple, but I am not a master of chi. Not like Oogway was. What you saw was about as much as I could manage."

"So what, we're just screwed then?" asked Crane.

"No!" Shifu emphasized. He couldn't allow his students to give up hope. "There is a way!"

"How? Oogway himself just said he can only be stopped by a master of chi and none of us fit the bill!" Even Po was having trouble staying optimistic. "Maybe if there were still other pandas around, I could try to learn from them, but...but..."

"I know," Shifu said, walking up face him. "While I can't say I'm pleased about the arrangements you had to make with Lord Shen, I understand that it is a necessary evil, and I'm proud that have matured enough to make that decision." Po smiled, just a little. "Regardless, as a panda, I believe that you are the only one who can hope to master chi in time."

"WHAT?!" Po yelled in his face, making him flinch. "You can't be serious! I haven't even mastered inner peace yet, let alone chi! How am I supposed to do all of that before Kai comes and eats us all?!"

Shifu hesitated to answer. True, the panda was not ready for this. In fact, he seemed to be even further from inner peace than when he started. While this was the only solution he could think of without having to rely on Shen and his weaponry, actually getting Po to master these skills would prove difficult indeed. The Dragon Warrior was known for being a quick learner, but even he had his limits. "Come with me."

He headed past the three masters and out the front door, gesturing for Crane and Mantis to stay put. Po shrugged at them apologetically and followed after Shifu. Mantis whistled sharply. "Wow, left out of the loop again. Harsh."

Po had to run to catch up with his surprisingly spry master. "Uh...where are we going? Is this about what we...saw...back at the prison? Aren't we going to tell the others?"

"Until we know more about what we're dealing with, there is no point. It will only confuse us further and set back our ability to plan."

"O-Okay. I guess that makes sense." Po was even more confused now. "Soooooo we're just going someplace private to train again?"

He shook his head. "You were right, Po. No amount of training is going to create miracles. I believe another perspective may be needed."

"What? Like who?"

* * *

"Soothsayer!"

The elderly goat looked completely out-of-place making herbal tea in a shack amidst all of these soldiers and weapons. She figured even they could use a bit more nourishment, as taxing as making so many servings would be. Thankfully, a good portion of them considered tea too "sissy" of a drink and ignored her offer entirely. Even in making beverages, she could not help those who did not wish to help themselves.

Speaking of which, "There you are, you old goat! I've been looking all over for you."

It seemed that Lord Shen finally wished to speak to her. After the events of last night, the peacock had fussed over her protection almost obsessively, as if she would suddenly be taken again if he allowed her out of his sight. Shen served as her personal escort all the way back to the campground, though it didn't exactly brighten her mood to see the location they had chosen for it. That poor panda couldn't have taken this well. The fact that he had apparently agreed to help Shen in spite of this spoke much about his spirit. Shen would speak nothing of it however, promising only that he would bring her back to safety for the night. As soon as he found a place for her to stay, he stormed off to his tent and went right to sleep, clearly seeking an early rise.

Evidently, he had been successful. "Are you really wasting our morning making _tea?"_

"Tea is a calming beverage. It brings peace to one's mind and body, fleeting as it may be. You should have some."

"You seem rather calm, given the situation," he said accusingly.

"So do you."

He bristled in annoyance. Couldn't argue that. "R-Regardless, this is not the time for warm beverages. We need to talk."

The goat held out a steaming cup to him. "I don't see how a warm beverage keeps us from talking."

Shen was starting to wonder why he wanted her back so much. He snatched the cup out of her hoof. "Fine." He lifted it up to his beak and took a sip. "...Decent enough. Now can we get down to business already?"

"About?"

"You know damn well what about!" Shen threw the cup to the ground, spilling the rest of the tea on the dirt. "The prophecy? Taking down Kai? Any of that ringing a bell?"

"What a waste." The Soothsayer shook her head sadly.

"Stop talking about the bloody tea and-!"

"I'm _not_ talking about the tea." She rested her hooves on the counter of the shack, looking at him sternly. "Shen, there is no more to discuss in regards to your prophecy. I cannot change your fate. Only you can. As you have chosen to continue this futile battle, do you still believe you can avert it through force?"

To her surprise, he did not say yes.

"I don't know _what_ to believe anymore," Shen admitted. "It was so simple at first. You said I was going to die, I said I wasn't. That was it. But ever since you fell from that tower, the situation has gotten considerably more...complicated."

She leaned forward, staring at him closely. "How do you mean?"

Shen paused, taken aback by her sudden interest. "It's a bit hard to explain..."

"Then perhaps I will finally know what my prophecies sound like to you." She gave a teasing smile. "Try me."

He waved his wings around aimlessly, trying to put this thoughts to words. "It's like...I keep getting these strange senses of déjà vu. It started with just vague feelings here and there, a place or an event that seemed mildly familiar. But it's been getting progressively worse. I take it you've met the panda?"

"I have. I must say, I was more than a little surprised that he is both alive and living in your campsite."

 _"You're_ surprised?! How do you think _I_ feel?! It's been my sworn purpose for decades to exterminate that species, and yet here he is mooching off our rations. He even attacked me at one point, and I still didn't kill him! It's like..." This was getting more and more frustrating to explain. "It's like I don't _want_ him to die, which is of course, ridiculous! And then there's the visions!"

"Visions? Like the ones that I show you?" The Soothsayer sipped at her tea, getting even more curious.

"No! I mean, yes! I mean...sort of?" Talk about an uncomfortable exercise in role reversal. No wonder the Soothsayer had so much trouble explaining these things to him. "It's like I hear or see something and I just blank out for a bit. It's like I'm looking through my own eyes, watching a scene play out in front of me. I say and do things that certainly _sound_ like me, but I can't remember any of it actually happening."

"Memory loss?" she asked. That was certainly unexpected. At the same time, there was a growing feeling of dread building inside of her, and she knew better than to ignore such instincts.

"It can't be!" he insisted. "These things I see are impossible events! I saw myself destroying the Tower of Sacred Flame, when we both know that it was Kai who destroyed it. I saw myself confronting the panda, but he didn't seem to know what I had done to his kind, when he actually attacked me specifically _because_ of that! And then..." He swallowed. "And then I think I saw myself dying."

There was a loud shattering sound, and he saw that the Soothsayer had dropped her own cup. Her body and voice trembled. "And this...this was not a premonition, but a memory?"

"I don't see how it can either, but it _feels_ like a memory."

"I see."

Shen waited several moments for her to say more, but finally lost his patience. "Well?! Do you have an explanation or don't you?!"

"...I don't have an explanation. But I do have a _theory._ "

Now Shen was the one confused again. Just as it should be. "A theory about why I'm losing my mind?"

"You are not losing your mind, because if you were, I would be losing mine as well."

Shen bit down the urge to make a snarky remark. "You mean...you've experienced this as well?"

"Not to the same degree that you have," she clarified, "but I have sensed for a while now that something is wrong. Not just with you, or me, but with this entire world."

"Something is wrong with the world? My, what a discovery."

"I'm serious!" she snapped, pounding the ground swiftly with her cane. "I believe that destiny has been forced off of its intended path, that the universe itself has become twisted into some mockery of what it was meant to be. My interactions with Kai have only convinced me of this further." She sighed. "Unfortunately, my expertise in this area is limited."

"Then perhaps we can help each other."

They both turned to see the diminutive form of Grandmaster Shifu. Shen scowled at the sight, and even moreso at the giant panda coming in behind him. To his credit, the panda didn't look very happy to see him either. "What is _he_ doing here?!" They yelled simultaneously, pointing to each other.

The Soothsayer chuckled lightly. "You first, Grandmaster."

"What?!"

"It's polite, Shen. They are your guests."

Shen grumbled to himself and folded his wings as Shifu stepped forward. "Thank you, Soothsayer. I have come to ask for your insight on other matters. Namely, those pertaining to the Dragon Warrior here."

Po waved sheepishly. "Hi."

"You wish for him to attain inner peace, yes?"

Even knowing that she was a seer, Shifu was caught off-guard. "Well...yes."

She nodded. "Yes, I am aware of what must be done. Unfortunately, the circumstances are no longer ideal for it."

"Be that as it may, you know it is necessary."

"I do. Perhaps we could-"

"Excuse me!" Shen interrupted. "Since when do the panda's problems take priority over mine?!"

"Uh...since I'm the one trying to save the world?" Po responded. "You know, as opposed to just selfishly conquering it?"

Shen gaped. He hadn't expected the panda to have such a mouth on him.

Maybe he should shut it for him, permanently. "Don't tell me about what's important! You have no idea what I have to deal with right now!"

"Really? Is it as bad as dealing with the extinction of your entire species while camping out with the guy responsible? Cuz' that's pretty bad."

"Enough!" yelled Shifu, thrusting his staff between them. "This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves!"

"He is correct," the Soothsayer agreed. "Our best move would be to exchange information and try to figure this all out, together." She didn't even give them the chance to protest. "Our fates are intertwined in this conflict. It is high time we started acting like it."

"I'm glad we are on the same page," Shifu said, ignoring an indignant look from Po. "But let us discuss this in private. It is far too noisy out here."

"But-" Po and Shen started.

"No buts!" Shifu and the Soothsayer snapped back. The situation was much like two concerned parents trying to set their children up on an awkward play date.

Hopefully, it wouldn't end with anyone going home crying.

* * *

"That's it. No more screwing around."

Kai's hooves glowed as he shifted them around his head, gradually reconstructing his lost armor. The crumbled wreckage of the fireworks factory lied in front of him. In lieu of getting the metal he needed from Shen's weapons, he settled for simply tearing apart the entire building.

He couldn't believe how long this was taking. All of China should've been cowering under his iron hooves by now, but he hadn't even made it out of this one, godforsaken city. Not only were his jombies taking forever to bring him results, now he had to deal with Shen and the Jade Palace masters taking cheap potshots at him. And getting away with it too! He at least wanted to be making some decent progress by now, but after that entire, humiliating ordeal, he had only gotten _one_ new master out of it. Unacceptable!

It was time for action. Not the phony, "sit back and let the grunts all the work" kind of action he went with yesterday, but the genuine "get off your ass and do something" kind of action. So no more random destruction, no more playing with the townspeople, no more gladiator pits! The proverbial gloves were coming off!

Finished with his work, Kai looked at his reflection in a piece of stray metal. His new helmet greatly resembled the old one. Though it lacked the leather straps, he made up for this shortcoming by making the rest of it even stronger, darker, and all the more intimidating. He then lifted his swords and tugged at each of their chains, making sure they were properly reforged. They were.

Kai the Collector was officially ready to rock.

Bringing his fingers down to his belt, Kai skimmed over his collection. Sending out his soldiers at random had so far only resulted in piles of broken jade. If he wanted these masters, he was going to have to play a little harder. But with most of the jombies already out on collecting duty, he didn't have the numbers for a full-force attack, especially not with Shen's army and weaponry backing them up. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the thought of going up against all of that firepower actually frightened him a little.

Instead, he would choose quality over quantity.

He grinned as his fingers tightened around one particular amulet. This was by far the most powerful of his soldiers, second only to Oogway himself. He had been the only one to give him any real trouble in the Spirit Realm, and now he was going to turn that same stubborn will against his enemies. He was so powerful in fact, that Kai refused to lose that much chi unless absolutely necessary. As of today, that threshold had just been crossed.

Throwing the amulet in front of him, Kai watched as it grew into a large, muscular warrior. He almost got chills just looking at the guy, remembering his last encounter with him. But he wasn't trying to attack him now, he was waiting patiently for his orders like a good soldier. "Bet you thought I'd never bring _you_ into this, huh? You're coming with me. We've got a job to do."

Kai and his new ally bounded into the forest on all fours, heading straight for the largest source of chi he could find. The yak laughed loudly to himself. "Watch out, Jade Palace! This kid is going to wreck shit up!"

But as he laughed, he happened to glance down at his right arm, and the memories of the previous night came rushing back to him. Kai stopped laughing. Shen's weapons weren't the only thing that frightened him anymore...

* * *

 _Pretty short chapter this time, but only because I don't want to get too deep into what happens next just yet._ _Hope you'll forgive me for cutting out Shifu explaining the Oogway/Kai story, but it was essentially the same scene from KFP3, just with everyone a bit less excited about it._

 _Nothing else to say really except yes, that is who you think it is._


	16. Black Shadow

_Man, I have been waiting to write this chapter for a while now._

 _Probably not what you were expecting, but I don't think you'll be disappointed either. ;)_

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Black Shadow**

The trip into the forest reminded Po much of his excursion with Master Shifu into the Wu Dan Mountains. Only difference was that this time they had company. And part of that company was the guy who slaughtered his entire species. And they weren't really going here to do kung fu. And actually, the forest was pretty different from the mountains. And-

Okay, so it was nothing like that trip, but Po needed to keep himself calm _somehow._

It didn't help that everyone stayed almost completely silent the whole way. Neither Po or Shen wanted to talk to each other, while their guardians were simply too refined for small talk. It was probably for the best, as the tension in the air might've made someone snap if that silence was broken.

After what felt like hours, they finally reached a small, open grove. The Soothsayer sat herself down in the center, with Shen facing her on the opposite end. Po and Shifu positioned themselves likewise, forming a circle. Well, square technically. The seating arrangement was not only convenient, it kept the panda and peacock from looking at each other any more than they had to. "I suppose we should get started," Shifu said, not one to waste time. "Who would like to go first?"

No response. He wished he found that surprising. "Alright, then I guess I'll ask about what you and Shen were discussing earlier, Soothsayer."

"That's none of your business, old man!"

"Shen, please," the Soothsayer pressed. "We are just trying to help you. So unless you wish to tell them yourself, I will do it for you." Shen hissed slightly, but stayed quiet. This was starting to feel like an intervention.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," the Soothsayer said idly. "This all began shortly after Lord Shen conquered Gongmen City two days ago. He told me to divine his future for him, but what I foretold was not to his liking."

"Let me guess, you saw him going down hard?" Po asked, unsympathetic.

"The hardest. I foresaw his own death."

Po's expression shifted into shock, along with Shifu's. Shen just looked away. "To be specific, I predicted that in three days time, Shen would lose his life to the one we know as Kai."

"Woah, no _wonder_ you've been so hellbent on beating him," said Po. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like knowing when you would die. That would just take all the fun out of heroics for him.

"Three days?" asked Shifu, getting a sinking feeling of dread. "That would make today the last one."

"It would indeed." By her tone, he could tell that she had long since adjusted to this news. It was probably a job requirement for a seer. But why did Shen himself seem so calm?

"So what did you do about this?"

"Nothing," she replied, as if that were obvious. "I warned Shen that he could escape this fate by fleeing the city, but he chose to stay and fight. Eventually, Kai invaded Gongmen City and captured me, while Shen fled into the outskirts and came upon your students. I take it you know the rest?"

"I do." Shifu nodded bitterly. "And now I know that our time is even more limited than I thought."

"What? Because of this?" Po cut in. "Look, it sucks that Shen could die and all, but it's not like that keeps us from being able to stop Kai, right?"

"Oh, so you think _you_ can stop him, do you?" Shen shot back.

"Well yeah, that's how it works. Good defeats evil and brings peace to the world. When evil defeats evil, you just get...slightly less evil."

"Quiet, both of you!" Shifu was already getting tired of this. "Your senseless bickering is not helping anyone!"

"There is more," the Soothsayer continued as if nothing happened. This succeeded in getting everyone's attention again. "Ever since that foretelling, Shen has been afflicted with a strange condition."

"What, like some kind of disease?" Po asked. "Are we sure sickness won't get to him before Kai?" For some reason, Shen looked particularly homicidal after he said that.

"Not a disease," she said hurriedly, "but a psychological condition."

"Pretty sure he has several of those."

"Let me finish," she pressed. Shifu put his staff to Po's mouth in a silent threat. He got the message.

"Forget it, I'll tell them myself!" Shen snapped, his feathers literally ruffled. "If you _must_ know, I've been getting visions of things purported to be memories of the past. Go ahead, tell me how crazy I am, panda."

But he didn't. Po just sat there and stared at him with that dopey look on his face. "You...you too?"

Shen probably looked similar. "...What?"

"I see we have made progress." He saw the Soothsayer smile and got the feeling he had just been played.

Might as well go along with it. He would just look foolish if he backed down now. "Yes, I keep seeing things that I'm fairly certain never happened, but I can't seem to agree with myself on that."

"Like what?"

Great, now he had to explain this _again_. He felt just a little less sane every time. "For starters, I keep seeing _you_ in them. We appeared to be in the midst of some long, drawn-out conflict over my attempt to conquer China. I never even saw Kai at all. It was just you and your fellow masters vs. me and my army. Frankly, it almost makes more sense than what actually happened. How about you?"

He saw the goat wince and realized too late he had made a poor move. Po's eyes narrowed, any sympathy he had for the bird vanishing like a puff of smoke. "I've been getting visions about my species and how you murdered them. Remember?"

Oh right. He _had_ mentioned that before, hadn't he?

"The point is that you are both suffering from unsettled minds," Shifu summarized before anything else could go wrong. "I believe we will have to resolve these inner turmoils before we can even hope to defeat Kai."

"You say that like it's easy." Shen glared at him. "Let me remind you that we have _one_ _day!"_

"No, he's right," the Soothsayer agreed. "If we can clear these troubling thoughts of the past, it will be much easier to focus on the present." And, she thought privately, easier to accept the end when it finally came.

"What's there to resolve?" Po asked stubbornly, folding his arms. "I already know what happened to my kind. There's nothing left to see."

"Are you sure? What about your parents?"

Po tensed up. He put a paw to his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to recall the memory. "W-Well, I think I saw my Dad. He was fending off the wolves while my Mom took me and ran away. Then...I don't know..."

"Then the memory is not yet complete," she affirmed. "It is no wonder you cannot find inner peace when your mind is filled only with fear and hatred."

"So you think you can help him then?" Shifu asked.

"Yes, and Shen as well."

"It's good to see the old timers getting along," Shen grumbled.

"Then we will set to work on unlocking their memories." Shfiu ignored him, staring intently at the Soothsayer. "But before we do, there is one more thing we need to discuss." He saw Po shudder a little and knew the panda was on the same page, illegible as that page may be.

"And what would that be?" She seemed genuinely unsure, but it was hard to tell with seers.

"Kai is not working alone."

Indeed, the goat's reaction was surprised, but not surprised enough to imply that she hadn't somewhat expected this. "...How do you know?"

Shifu's grip tightened on his cane. Even for an old master with such vast experience, he had never seen anything like what he witnessed last night. "It happened when we were battling Kai at Gongmen Jail. He had us beaten, but I was able to sense his chi...and I sensed something _horrible._ Something that was neither Kai nor any of his victims. It was like there was another, darker presence sharing his body."

"...Like a demon?" she asked cautiously.

"That is what he referred to it as, but he seemed just as surprised as we were by what happened next. This...thing...took control of his body and started tearing the place apart. That's the only reason we were able to escape."

"Yeah, and I saw the guy too," Po said, a bit shaken up himself. "Totally not sleeping for the next few weeks."

The Soothsayer closed her eyes in contemplation, nodding silently. "I see. It's all starting to make sense now."

"Oh, well I'm glad _you_ think so!" Shen whirled around on her. "Mind filling me in here?"

Her next words were not directed at him, annoying him even further. "As I explained to Shen earlier, I've come to believe that these recent events are no mere coincidence. That the course of destiny has been intentionally misshaped, resulting in something far different than what was originally intended. It appears we now know the source of the problem: This demon that has a hold over Kai."

"Really? We're just going along with this?" Shen asked, in complete disbelief. "First cosmic anomalies, and now demons?! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"For someone who seeks answers, you are being very resistant to receiving them."

"I'll receive them when you people start talking sense!" He stormed over to Shifu and grabbed him by the arm. "If you think you can help me get ready to face Kai, by all means! But don't go filling the old goat's head with any more nonsense!"

"Hey, knock it off!" Po yelled, ready to jump to his master's defense.

Shifu did not respond, frozen in shock. "Hello?! I am speaking to you! Show me some respect, you worm!"

"Shen!" The Soothsayer stomped towards him, raising her cane like he was a chick again. "Stop that this instant! Do not-"

"You too."

Shen looked back at Shifu in confusion. "What?"

Shifu's paw gripped Shen's wing, glowing softly. His face shifted into horror.

"This dark presence...it has a hold of you too."

Shen yanked his wing away. "What are you talking about?!" This was getting seriously disturbing.

"Shen?" the Soothsayer asked worriedly. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Wait, so Shen has a crazy demon contract too?" Po looked back and forth between them. "Is that like the new bad guy _fad_ or something?"

"No!" Shen screamed, backing away from them fearfully. "I'm telling you, I don't know anything about any demon!"

 **If I may interrupt, he is telling the truth.**

Everyone froze, looking around uneasily. Po was the first to speak up. "You guys...all heard that right?"

"It appears we've found our culprit," Shifu growled. "Whoever and whatever you are, explain all of this now!"

Four heads turned every which way as the dark voice laughed.

 **I don't take demands from mortals. But if you would like to make an appointment, all you need do is ask.**

They looked between each other, completely baffled. How was one supposed to react to this? Po slowly raised a paw like he was still in school. "...May we make an appointment, please?"

 **Certainly. When would you like to set it for?**

"Uh...now?"

There was another pause, during which even the more grounded members of the group were starting to wonder if this was all just a hallucination.

 **Very well. It looks like my schedule is clear. I'll be right out.**

Po scratched his chin. "Huh. What do you suppose he meant by-?"Shen suddenly screamed and doubled over in pain, making him jump. "Oh crap, not _this_ again!"

"Shen!" the Soothsayer gasped. How could she have never sensed something like this before?

They watched as the same dark tendrils that appeared in Gongmen Jail began to form around Lord Shen. But instead of enveloping the bird, they quickly spread out and covered the surrounding area, blanketing the entire grove in darkness. What was formerly a bright and sunny morning had suddenly turned into the dead of night right before their eyes.

But before they could even register that much, something even more disturbing happened. Shen's own shadow, which shouldn't have even been visible anymore, now began to move of its own tuition, twitching around sporadically as if trying to tear itself loose. The shadow changed shape until it no longer resembled the peacock at all, but another being entirely. Po immediately recognized it as the same monstrous figure he had glimpsed at the jail. And then it broke free, snapping off from Shen's body like a piece of taffy and darting a few feet away until it came to a stop. It changed shape yet again, turning into a pool of inky black.

"Okaaaaay, anyone know what's going on here?" Po asked, more confused than frightened.

"I don't know much about the occult," the Soothsayer replied. "However, I am fairly certain you just summoned a demon."

"...Oops."

The pool of darkness condensed and a figure rose slowly out of it, one that took the same shape as the sinister silhouette, but with much clearer features.

Soon the being emerged completely, and what stood in front of them now resembled a lanky flying fox. He had dark brown fur, pointed ears, and a pair of glowing, purple eyes that shone especially bright in the dark surroundings. The bat's wings, black and leathery, were folded tightly around his body. Shadowy tendrils perpetually spread from his lower body and pooled at his feet, creating what looked like a literal cloak of shadows. It was hard to tell where his wings ended and the shadows began.

Despite his foreboding appearance, the bat demon smiled at them politely. **"Greetings."**

Polite or not, they struggled to say anything in response. "H-Hi," Po finally managed.

The bat walked closer, unfurling his wings in an almost relaxed manner. They could see what looked like a black business suit underneath, and a purple bead necklace around his head. Clasping his clawed hands together, he gave a small bow. **"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, gentlemen. Now what would you like to discuss today?"**

This gesture seemed to finally snap Shifu out of it at least. "You can start by telling us who you are."

 **"Of course, how rude of me."** He stepped up to Shifu, extending a hand towards him. **"Hei Yinying, at your service Grandmaster."**

Shifu ignored the gesture. "Charmed."

He turned to Po next, extending his hand again. **"And you must be the Dragon Warrior, Mr. Ping. I've heard much about you."**

"Uh...actually my name is Po. Mr. Ping is my Dad."

Yinying stared blankly at him for a second, but quickly loosened up again. **"Ah, my mistake. Mr. Po then."**

He didn't wait for the handshake and moved on to the Soothsayer. **"Hello Soothsayer, or would you prefer Ms. Ah-Ma?"**

She glared. "I would prefer you didn't talk to me."

" **Still sore over my comment back in the tower?"**

"Among other things."

Yinying shrugged and turned to Shen, still gasping for breath from his earlier trauma. " **I don't suppose YOU'RE going to shake my hand. Then again, you already did."**

"So...you are the one...who caused all of this?" Shen asked accusingly, already reaching for his knives.

Yinying chuckled. **"I see you haven't learned a thing, Mr. Shen. Still blaming others for your own actions. Such a pity."**

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?!" he demanded.

 **"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't tell you the terms of our contract. It goes against the terms of our contract."**

 _"What_ contract?!"

 **"This contract."** A small parchment in black casing appeared in a burst of flame, hovering over his open hand.

"Holy crap, you really _did_ sign a crazy demon contract!" Po yelled.

"No I didn't!" Shen yelled back.

 **"Yes you did."** Yinying unfurled the parchment and held it in front of him, shadows conveniently covering everything but the signature. **"This _is_ your handwriting is it not, Mr. Shen?" **

Shen just stared at the writing, his beak hanging open in shock. There was no denying it; his name was written on that document in what was unmistakably his own signature. "But...but how is that...?"

 _The last thing he remembered was the cannon falling towards him, and then...nothing._

 _When Shen opened his eyes again, he found himself floating. Not merely gliding, certainly not flying, just...floating. He was surrounded by a void of pure blackness, no sign of land anywhere in sight. Not that he was particularly concerned about THAT of all things when he appeared to literally be in the middle of nowhere. Could this be the mythical Spirit Realm? No, it seemed far too empty and soulless to be a land for divine kung fu masters, of which he was neither. That led him to only one other conclusion..._

 **"Yes Mr. Shen, I'm afraid you have just departed from the mortal coil."**

 _He froze. A voice had spoken to him, one that was deep and sinister. Looking around the void, he couldn't find the source of it, the voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. He initially thought that he simply couldn't see the speaker through this oppressive darkness. Then he realized, to his horror, that the voice had echoed from within his own mind. "W-What are you-?"_

 **"You believe you are at peace, but what if I told you your life did not have to end just yet? I have come to you offering a second chance. Would you like to make a deal, Mr. Shen?"**

Shen broke out of his vision at the sound of Yinying literally snapping his fingers in front of his face. **"That's quite enough of that. A simple 'yes' will suffice."**

Yinying turned around and walked away, throwing out his arms in a gesture of helplessness. **"Honestly, it would have been far more efficient for everyone involved if your lost memories had _stayed_ lost. ****Unfortunately, it appears that outside influence has brought them slowly back to the surface."**

"You _stole_ my memories?!"

 **"No, you gave them to me. Pay attention, please."**

That was where Shen's patience ended. Leaping forward, he swung his metal talons at the demon's face.

It was to his great confusion that he landed on the other side, having felt his foot connect with nothing. "Impossible. I _know_ I hit him!"

 **"Indeed you did."** Shen turned around and saw a headless Yinying. Shadowy wisps were scattered around where his head was supposed to be, and as Yinying turned to face him, they reformed into an amused expression. **"However, attacking your shadow is hardly beneficial for anyone."**

With a loud hiss, Shen flung a flurry of knives at the bat. Yinying just stood there, letting the blades fly right through him. "Hey, watch it!" Po shouted, diving out of the way on the other side.

The wisps floated upwards and Yinying reformed, now literally slouching in mid-air, one leg crossed over the other. It appeared that his wings were just for show. **"Are you finished yet? I _do_ have other clients to attend to." **

Shen grunted and reluctantly ceased his efforts. "Answer me _this_ then! Why am I remembering things that couldn't have happened in the first place?"

 **"Oh, they happened alright. But they also didn't happen."**

"Good gods, you're worse than the goat!"

"I think what he means is that these are things you remember from your previous life," said the Soothsayer, with a hint of annoyance.

"Previous life?" asked Shifu. "Do you mean to say-?"

"Yes. It has all become clear to me now. These unknown memories that Shen keeps experiencing are from the previous chain of events, the _correct_ one."

"W-What?" Shen found that he couldn't stop shaking. "That can't be...I can't have really...?"

 **"Died? You _can_ , you _did_ , and then you didn't."**

"Uggh, serious brain hurt right now," Po groaned, rubbing his temples. "If that was how stuff was _supposed_ to happen, then why isn't it like that now?"

 **"It's quite simple actually. I did that."**

"What?!" Shifu pointed his staff at him, glaring fiercely. "You can't seriously have the power to remake reality! That would take nothing less than a god!"

 **"Oh, no, no, no, no, no."** Yinying waved his hands at him frantically. **"I apologize for the confusion. You see, it works like this."**

With a single flap of his wings, Yinying flew over to the edge of the forest and up into a tree, a completely unnatural movement that no flying animal should have been able to perform. The bat clung to a branch using his feet, hanging upside down. **"Think of all of existence as a forest. It has many trees with many branches that spread out every which way, each one created by a different decision."**

Yinying reached down and grabbed another branch. " **Each and every one of these branches contains numerous discrepancies so minor that you would hardly notice the difference from one to another. What did you have for breakfast this morning? Where did you want to go today? Did you dodge that punch or end up with a broken nose? All choices so irrelevant to the grand scheme of things that they're hardly worth mentioning."** He casually snapped off the branch and tossed it aside. **"If you hadn't seen me remove that branch just now, would you even notice it was missing?"**

He raised a palm, watching a small purple flame appear within it. **"But the big changes, the ones that alter the outcome of entire conflicts, result in something more like this."** Just as casually, he sent the fireball into another tree, causing it to instantly burst into flames. The tree shuddered and then collapsed, kicking up debris as it landed with a massive thud. He snapped his fingers and the flames vanished instantly. **"Much more noticeable, yes? These kinds of changes result in such** **different circumstances that they would appear to you as a shift in reality itself. What if Tai Lung really was chosen as the Dragon Warrior? What if there was no Dragon Warrior at all? What if kung fu didn't even exist? These are the questions that shape the world around you."** Yinying dropped from the tree and flew back in front of them, just as abnormally. " **So you see, I have done nothing to remake reality, Grandmaster. I have simply planted another tree."**

"I was always taught that destiny has one set path," Shifu argued, gritting his teeth.

Yinying smiled. **"Then you were taught wrong."**

Everyone went silent after that. Except for Po, who groaned even louder from brain pain. **"I realize it's a lot to take in, so I'll just cut to the part that most concerns you. Namely that I couldn't have done any of this if not for _you_ , Mr. Shen."**

The peacock stiffened. "M-Me...?"

 **"You still don't understand? My, you're slow to catch on."** Yinying descended until he landed directly in front of Shen. **"It was _your_ contract that created this new reality. You wished for a second chance, and in the process, forced everyone else into it as well."**

Shen stepped back, swallowing hard. "N-No! That can't be right! I wouldn't-!"

 **"Wouldn't do something like that? Wouldn't sacrifice the happiness of others for your own personal gain? Don't make me laugh."** His face warped into a twisted grin. **"I can't tell you the exact terms of our deal, but I _can_ tell you why you made it _._ It's because you are a coward, Mr. Shen. You accepted your death, and then turned right back around as soon as it stopped being the only option. If that's what redemption looks like, it seems vastly overrated." **

Shen trembled uncontrollably, unable to even look at him. "I...I-I...can't...I..."

 **"But don't feel too bad. You're not alone. Every client I've ever had has been as weak and pitiful as you. No one else would be dumb enough to accept."**

"STOP IT!"

The voice rang out loud throughout the grove. Shen looked up wearily, wondering who had spoken up for him.

It wasn't who he expected. **"Really? You of all people have a problem with this, Mr. Po? Do you not agree?"**

"It doesn't matter anymore!" Po growled, stepping towards the shadow demon threateningly. "Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of Shen either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just sit back and watch you brutalize the guy! Being a hero is about standing up for anyone! Even him!" Yinying didn't look particularly impressed. "Besides, if this is all just a burnt tree or whatever, that means the world where we do things the 'right' way is still around, isn't it?"

 **"It is."**

"Then technically, Shen didn't do anything to mess with _those_ guys. No harm, no foul." Po grinned.

Yinying stared at him closely, rubbing his chin with one finger. **"Hmm. I can't decide if you're a genius or a complete moron."**

"Who says I can't be both?"

 **"Actually no, that pretty much settled it."** He turned away, giving a short wave. **"Whatever. This meeting is over anyway."**

Just like that, the shadows that surrounded them started to condense again, and Shen fell back into agonized throes as they reentered his body. Yinying bowed to the group once more, the lower half of his body already starting to sink back into the shadows. **"I'll be taking my leave now. Oh, and I wouldn't concern yourselves too much with Mr. Shen _or_ Mr. Kai. After today, you won't have to worry about either of them."**

"W-Wait! What do you mean by that?!" Shifu asked.

 **"Until then, I'll be _watching_." ** With one last smile, Hei Yinying disappeared completely, all light returning to the area.

Shen tried to reorient himself, looking at his own body as if it was unclean. "Can't say I'm going to get used to _that_ anytime soon, but I guess I won't have to for much longer." He looked up at Po, his expression unreadable. "I suppose I should thank you," he said.

"But I won't."

Is what Po expected him to say. "...Thank you, panda."

Po didn't even know how to respond to that. "You're...you're welcome?"

Something changed between Po and Shen at that moment. While not exactly friends, they at least weren't wishing death on each other anymore. So that was a start.

But the two elders were hardly focused on that at the moment. "That was...unexpected," Shifu said, making the understatement of the dynasty.

"Unexpected, but informative," replied the Soothsayer, providing stiff competition.

Shaking off any lingering trepidation, Shifu regained his composure. "In any case, this makes it more vital than ever for us to bring Po and Shen into proper alignment. We should begin at once."

The Soothsayer would have agreed, if not for a loud, booming sound that suddenly echoed through the air. "What was that?!"

Shen knew damn well what it was. "Who fired one of my cannons without permission?!"

On cue, several more shots rang out.

"Quickly, back to the campground!" Shifu shouted, fearing the worst.

Unfortunately, there was a limit to how quickly the old Soothsayer could move, so Po scooped her up in his arms on the way out.

"You drop the goat, I drop your head," Shen said simply, running up beside him.

Even if he didn't show it, Po knew the peacock could use a little more support. His destiny may have claimed otherwise, but he wasn't so willing to give up on him just yet. "Look Shen, you've done some terrible things, and I'm not sure I can ever really forgive you, but I'm willing to let bygones be bygones in order to put an end to these even worse bad guys. I promise you, we _will_ stop Kai and find a way to save you!"

They all heard the voice that instantly rippled through their heads.

 **Good luck with that.**

* * *

 _Wherein I attempt to explain multiverse theory. You wanted answers? You get answers! Not ALL of the answers of course, but I think this should satiate you for a while. If you're still not entirely sure what's going on, that's probably because I intentionally left some vital parts out, which will be covered in more detail later on._

 _So what do you think of Hei Yinying? Ever since he first reared his ugly head back in Chapter 7, there's been much speculation on who and what was behind that mysterious voice lurking in the background. So if you guessed a shadow/bat/demon/lawyer, than congratulations! As I said before in Chapter 11, I had Yinying's design and role pretty much set from the beginning, but it took me a while to decide on his personality. I eventually settled on extreme_ _bureaucrat with a touch of condescending smartass. Now that he's finally been officially introduced, you can expect to be seeing quite a bit more of him now._

 _A small shoutout to Mind Jack for helping me out with this chapter. Multiverse theory is kind of a bitch._


	17. Raising the Stakes

_Shen vs. KAI HAS RETURNED!_

 _Sorry about the massive wait on this one, but to be completely honest, my motivation for this fic has been sorely lacking as of late. It's not so much any problem with THIS story, as it is with Zootopia completely taking over my life in general. Anyone who seriously obsesses over fandoms like I do probably knows what I mean._

 _But enough excuses. I have way too much planned for this story to let it die, so it's about time I get back into the groove of things with another chapter. I hope the wait was worth it. :)_

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Raising the Stakes**

"See? This is _exactly_ why I don't like being left behind!"

Mantis jumped over a sweeping green blade, which then soared towards Crane, who swept it aside with his wing. There they were just minding their own business, chatting about their families back home and wondering what they were going to do today, when Kai busted straight through the wall without any warning.

The blade returned to Kai, who smirked and kicked it back, treating this as more of a game than a fight. The walls of the house around them shook with the force of each blow, in danger of collapsing. But after surviving an entire prison falling on him, the yak wasn't particularly concerned. "So the Dragon Warrior isn't here? Then where is he? And your master while you're at it!"

"What are we, chopped liver?" Mantis asked, going from afraid to annoyed.

"No, you're _appetizers."_ Kai pulled both blades towards him. "And frankly, I'm amazed you've slipped away from me for _this_ long!" He threw the swords into the walls on either side of him, then flung himself directly at Mantis. To the insect, seeing the giant bovine coming right at him was cause to start freaking out again.

"Wings of Justice!" Crane flung a large gust of wind into Kai, throwing him back. He anchored himself with his chains and landed back on the wooden floor.

"Why so defensive, guys? Come at me! I'm a _lot_ weaker now!" Kai taunted, pounding a fist against his chest. "Which is kind of like saying that a _brick_ wall is a lot weaker than a _steel_ wall, but don't let that stop you!"

Mantis hopped onto Crane's hat. "I reiterate: this guy is a dick."

"We're all aware of this," Crane replied. "Now do you have any ideas on how to stop him?"

"Well as much as I hate to be proving him right, it kind of seems like our best chance would be to wait for the others."

"Oh, so we have the same plan then?" asked Kai, dropping to all fours. "Good to know our schedules overlap so efficiently. Now let's kill a little time." He charged, forcing the bird to quickly swoop out of the way before he got impaled on those massive horns. Kai crashed through the opposite wall and made another large hole, which didn't phase him in the slightest. "And by 'time' I mean 'you'."

They might have responded, except that the new hole in the wall gave them a good look at what was going on in the rest of the village. The sounds of angered wolves and firing cannons alone told them that it was under attack, but the exact circumstances still surprised them. They assumed that Kai had brought an army of jombies with him, but he had only brought one.

A very powerful, very familiar one.

"No way..." Crane gasped.

"Is that-?"

"That's right!" Kai said, gesturing to his ally dramatically. "It's the not Dragon Warrior himself...Taiwan!"

Mantis blinked. "Uh, actually it's Tai-"

"Taiwan here is the best jombie I've got! Isn't that right, buddy?"

The jade snow leopard did not respond. He was too busy tossing aside wolves left and right as casually as shaking off water. The masters wondered briefly if this was what his legendary escape from Chorh-Gom Prison looked like, before a much more pressing question came to mind. "How did you get _him_ here?!" Mantis yelled. Crane's beak was wide open, but no sound came out.

"Well it sure wasn't easy. That kid put up a real fight, even more than Oogway did honestly," Kai explained, almost praising him. "But in the end, he went down just like allllll the others. Sure was a worthy investment though, but I guess I don't need to tell _you_ that."

He didn't. And as the two masters continued to watch him in action, they realized to their horror that being jombiefied made the snow leopard more dangerous than ever.

Even the tried and true tactics the wolves had used against other jombies were failing them now. One solider came in from the left and attempted to slam a heavy mace down onto the back of Tai Lung's head. The feline spun around with incredible speed and caught the weapon between both jade paws. He kicked the wolf away, then took the mace and smashed it into one of his companions instead, shattering both the weapon and his armor. Two more wolves came in, lunging for him. Tai Lung dodged away from the attack, grabbed the unfortunate lupines, and slammed their skulls together.

Tai Lung turned his head towards a loud mechanical sound from behind him, seeing a gorilla manning a cannon. The fuse was already lit. "Have a treat, kitty cat!" To the gorilla's surprise, Tai Lung rushed straight for the cannon. Coming in low, he threw an uppercut straight into the gun's underside. It was flung upwards, pivoting on its axis, until it was now pointing in the exact opposite direction. The gorilla let out a scream as the cannonball exploded into his gut, throwing him back into a horde of other soldiers. They barely had time to react before Tai Lung leapt on top of the cannon and pounced right for them.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Like poetry in motion." Kai started to swing his blades around his arms, both poised to be flung directly at Crane and Mantis. "So while he's dealing with...well, _everyone_ , shall we continue?"

Before they could answer, Kai was suddenly hit in the side by a large and powerful belly, throwing him back a few feet. Which was significantly less than that belly was used to. "SHAKABOOEY!"

"Po!" Crane yelled out, relieved.

"Yay! Stalling worked!" Mantis cheered.

"Po, can you please put me down now?" asked the Soothsayer, still wedged under his arm.

"Oops, sorry!" He hurriedly placed her back on the ground and dusted her off.

"Consider yourself lucky you didn't hurt anything more than her dignity," Shen said, coming up behind him. Shifu shot a brief glare at the peacock, but said nothing.

"Woah, did I actually beat Shifu here? How did _that_ happen?"

"Pity," the Grandmaster answered.

"Well well, the gang's all here!" Kai laughed. "Except for the ones I've already collected I mean. No hard feelings about that, right?" The looks he got in response answered that question perfectly. "Guess so. To make up for your loss, how would you like to meet an old friend?"

On cue, Tai Lung immediately ceased his battle with Shen's army, who looked relieved to catch a breath, and leapt into the air, doing a few flips and landing directly between Kai and the masters.

Po and Shifu stepped back in shock. "No way..."

"It can't be..." Shifu said tensely.

"Yes, yes, it's all quite impressive I know," said Kai, rolling his hoof. "But I think out mutual friend Taiwan here needs a better workout than these chumps Shen calls an army. So how about we trade?"

Without waiting for an answer, Kai rushed towards the recovering troops.

"To hell with that! I've gone long enough without leading my own army!" Shen dashed off after him.

"Okay, four against one. Not too shabby," said Crane, as he Mantis, Po, and Shifu stared down Tai Lung. "Especially with you here, Po."

"No problem!" the panda said, cracking his knuckles. "I beat him once, I can beat him again!" He suddenly put a finger to his lip in thought. "Although...the first time was more Tai Lung beating himself due to being all overconfident and distracted by the Dragon Scroll, and that isn't really going to slow him down this time." He was oblivious to the stares the rest of his teammates gave him. "Oh, and he also wasn't immune to pain and fatigue last time, so there's that. I can't even sit on him because that'll do, like, nothing."

Shifu jabbed him in the gut. "He who knows nothing, doubts nothing."

"So if I stop doubting, I'll know things?"

"...Sure."

"Then how about you start putting that knowledge into beating up Tai Lung again?" Mantis pressed. "Because I don't think he's gonna wait any longer."

They turned their heads to see the snow leopard charging them on all fours. If he could have let out a roaring battle cry, he would have.

* * *

Shen's army didn't get much of a break. As soon as one juggernaut left, another took his place. "Hey, guys! I didn't get to kill enough of you back at the tower and I'm itching to fill my quota!"

The troops backed away fearfully until a tremendous stomp caught their attention. "You think we're scared of you?" the Chief Gorilla challenged. "Despite what you seem to think, you're not invincible. Get him!"

All at once, the other wolves and gorillas regained their focus and rushed him.

Had this happened earlier, Kai might have just stood there and let them come. However, he himself had already been reminded of his own fleeting mortality and wasn't about to make the same mistakes. "You're right actually. This game is a little too dangerous even for me. So how about we play tag instead? YOU'RE IT!" With a sweep of his sword, he knocked several approaching wolves off of their feet, but leapt away to keep the rest from catching up to him. Kai kicked a gorilla away from a cannon before he could fire it and promptly lifted the entire thing above his head. "I know better than to let you idiots get too close this time!" He threw the entire weapon at the assembled group, crushing several and scattering the rest.

"That's quite enough of that." Kai turned his head to see Shen standing behind him. "No one gets to toss my men around except me."

Kai smiled, immediately tuning out the entire rest of the battlefield to hone in on the peacock. "Ah, Lord Shen. It's been a while since we threw down. Hope you're still feeling up to this after the way I tossed you out of your own tower."

"Funny, I seem to recall _you_ being the one getting tossed," Shen bit back, readying his guandao.

"Heh, still got some fight in you I see," Kai chuckled. "But as I said before, you know you can't beat m-ARRGH!"

Shen had leapt at him mid-speech and slashed open his cheek. "And as _I_ said before, you talk too much." As Kai staggered back, Shen took notice that his blade had cut much deeper than anything he'd thrown at him back at the tower. It seemed he really _was_ weaker without all those fancy little trinkets hanging from his belt.

"Not bad..." Kai growled, rubbing his bloody cheek. "I take it you're ready to fight then?"

Shen pointed his guandao at him, getting into position to do just that.

And then he pointed it to the right. "No, _they_ are."

"What?" Kai realized too late that he really _should_ have been focused on the others as he was suddenly beset by a large number of wolves in his moment of distraction. "AGH! Damnit, not again!"

"It seems I've learned more than you have," Shen said, watching the yak get mauled in front of him. "For so long, I've been wanting to personally take my revenge on you, but recent events have made me realize that I don't _need_ to deal with you myself, that's what I have underlings for. As long as you're dead, I don't care _how._ "

"Why...you..." Kai snarled as several pairs of fangs sank into him, injuring him even more quickly than before.

Shen leapt onto the back of a nearby cannon, signalling a half-dozen gorillas to aim the weapons at the struggling Kai. "And now...let's finish this."

* * *

"Scatter!" Po shouted. His teammates instantly split up, but the panda himself was not quick enough. Raising his paws in front of him, he caught Tai Lung's fists as they flew towards his head.

Shoved back a few feet by the sheer force of the jade warrior's might, Po struggled to hold him back. In a contest of sheer strength, he knew he couldn't hope to match Tai Lung. Given the circumstances, he wasn't sure what advantages he even had left.

Except of course...for tenacity.

Grunting in exertion, Po managed to throw himself forward, plowing his belly into Tai Lung. The leopard let go, but was otherwise unaffected. "Oh boy. This is gonna suck." If fighting off the jombified Tigress was painful, this was at least ten times worse.

With a silent snarl, Tai Lung lashed forward with a claw strike too quick for Po to dodge. Bracing himself for the oncoming blow, Po was surprised to see the feline's fist stop inches from his face, strong talons fastened around his shoulder blades. "H-Hurry up and attack, Po!" Crane shouted. "I nearly broke something just stopping that!"

"Attack with _what_?" As he had already learned, these things were way too tough to just punch or kick without hurting himself. This was going to require a bit of ingenuity. "Alright, on the count of three, you use your Wings of Justice at full force!"

"Are you crazy?!"

Po pulled his fist back. "1...2..."

"Now hold on a second!"

"3!"

"W-Wings of Justice!"

At the exact instant Po's fist struck Tai Lung's chest, a titanic force of wind blew the snow leopard away. Crane let go, allowing Tai Lung to continue his backward flight straight into the forest. Po shook out his fist, which still stung a bit. "Heh. Good thing I stayed awake for physics class...sometimes."

There was another loud crash from the surrounding forest. "Geez, didn't think I tossed him _that_ hard." Leaping back into the clearing, Tai Lung lifted the giant bulk of a tree trunk above his head, ready to slam it down straight onto the panda. "Eep!"

Coming to save his bacon again was Master Shifu, jumping at the descending tree and landing a few small chi strikes that splintered it. Still in mid-air, Shifu threw the small form of Mantis straight at Tai Lung's head, with enough force that the bug turned into a bullet. Tai Lung was knocked onto his back, with Mantis standing on his chest. "Hey! Look at me! I just knocked over Tai Lung!"

He suddenly felt himself caught in the leopard's grasp, glowing eyes glaring at him fiercely. "Urk! Need to get over-ack-size complex!"

"Hey, you put him down!" As Tai Lung leapt back to his feet, he turned towards the charging Po and kicked him hard in the gut. It said much of his strength that the blow actually winded him. Tai Lung was then pushed back by a fierce strike of Shifu's staff, distracting him long enough for Po to grab a hold of his arm and try to pry Mantis out of it. The leopard growled at him, about to bring his other set of claws down on Po's neck when Crane charged him again, the bird and Shifu landing simultaneous kicks to Tai Lung's chest. This, combined with Po's death grip on his arm, had an interesting effect.

"Hey, I think his grip loosened up!" Po shouted excitedly, feeling the leopard suddenly stop resisting. As he went to pull open his fingers to free Mantis, he noticed why. He was still holding Tai Lung's arm...but Tai Lung was no longer attached to it. "AHHHHH!" He reeled back in shock, dropping the severed jade arm to the ground.

"Ow. Thanks for the help, Po," Mantis muttered, prying himself out of the jombie's fingers himself.

"Sorry," the panda winced. "But at least this means we win now, right?"

He took a kick to the face as soon as he said that, and was sent rolling across the ground. As he got back up, he saw Tai Lung staring him down, missing an arm, but not looking the least bit bothered by it. Somehow, he got the feeling that the leopard would have acted no differently if he were still mortal. "That is so badass."

Tai Lung tried to charge him again on all...threes, but Crane came down on him from above and forced him to the ground. Shifu quickly joined him in trying to restrain his former pupil by grabbing onto one of his legs. "Dog pile on the cat!" Po shouted, rushing over and forcing Tai Lung down again before he could shake off Crane and Shifu, sitting on his back while wrapping himself around his remaining arm. Almost redundantly, Mantis held down his other leg. "Okay...I think we got him."

Having forgotten how Tai Lung escaped from Chorh-Gom, Shifu was caught off-guard when the feline's tail whipped up and smacked him away. The tail swept to the other side and dislodged Mantis even more easily. Freeing his legs, Tai Lung arched his back and wrapped his legs around Crane, flinging him off. "Uh..guys?" Po asked nervously, suddenly not feeling so confidant.

Maintaining the grip on his arm, Po tried his best to keep him down, but Tai Lung managed to roll himself over completely, throwing Po underneath him, then kicking off of the panda's belly to escape. Po choked, gasping for breath. "Ugh...to be fair, this is going about as well as the first time." He looked down at himself and found that he was now clutching Tai Lung's other arm. "WHHHHHHY?!"

Tai Lung looked almost comical now, standing there glaring at him with two stumps for arms. "Well, it looks like this is just about over," Mantis laughed.

Without warning, Tai Lung rushed over and punted the insect into the sky. While Crane raced after him, Tai Lung attacked Po and Shifu, kicking and biting at them relentlessly. "This is ridiculous!" Po yelled, struggling to fend him off. "Can't he see that he doesn't have any freaking arms?!"

"To him, it's just a flesh wound," said Shifu. "He always _was_ a stubborn one."

"You're telling me!" Maneuvering around Tai Lung's backside, Po grabbed him by the tail in an attempt to slow him down. It seemed the jombie failed to recognize this tactic as he blindly lunged at Po in the same way he had before. Almost by instinct, Po once again stretched out Tai Lung's tail in front of him and tricked him into biting down on it. His reaction was both more and less extreme than last time. With a loud snap, Tai Lung's enhanced jaws bit straight through his own tail. Ignoring this completely, he immediately went for Po again. Leaping onto the panda's back, he wrapped his legs tightly around his shoulders and bit into his neck.

"Po!" Shifu reacted at once, using the staff to knock his old student off of his current one. Tai Lung fell back onto the ground while Po put a paw to his new gash. Thankfully, it wasn't quite deep enough to cause him serious trouble, but it still hurt like heck.

"Aggh...what is with these jombies and the biting? This isn't going to turn into one of them, is it?"

"I don't think they work like that," Shifu said dryly.

"But they're called jombies!"

"Because _you_ called them that!"

"Actually, Monkey did."

A growl sounded behind them. Tai Lung got back to his feet once again...or rather, _foot_.

Po then noticed one of the leopard's legs still wrapped around his shoulder. "Okay, this doesn't even surprise me anymore," he said, gently prying the leg off of him. He got back into his fighting stance with Shifu, while Crane returned with Mantis. Tai Lung glared at the four of them, still not looking like he was going to give up anytime soon. "Don't tell me the crazy bastard still wants to fight?" Mantis asked.

"Then we'll just have to keep chipping away at him," Po said, determined. "Uh...metaphorically speaking."

* * *

Shen watched in grim satisfaction as Kai continued to struggle with the wolves. Now all they had to do was light these cannons and-

"S-Sir!"

"What is it?!" he snapped impatiently.

"We can't just light these now!" the Chief Gorilla protested. "All of those wolves out there will get caught in the crossfire!"

Shen opened his beak to shout back, but then stopped...turning his gaze back to the battlefield. There were at least a few dozen wolves fighting out there by now, all of which were just as vulnerable as Kai.

The Chief Gorilla held his ground, prepared to suffer the consequences for disobedience, when Shen suddenly raised a wing. "...No, you're right. We can't fire yet. But tell your men to get ready."

The large ape blinked in surprise. "Uh, y-yes, sir!" As he relayed the order, Shen reared back and unleashed another peacock's cry into the air. He had long used the sound as a substitute for a wolf's howl, and it served the same purpose. As soon as they heard it, every wolf surrounding Kai immediately broke off and cleared out of the danger zone, leaving a dazed and staggered Kai in their place.

"Now, fire!" Shen ordered.

All at once, the gorillas lit the cannons, all poised to blow the yak to bits.

In those few seconds, Kai realized what was happening and panicked. "No! I can't die! Not yet!"

As Shen raised an eyebrow, Kai's eyes glowed, signalling his only jombie on the battlefield to return to his side.

And then that glow suddenly flickered, almost indignantly. "What do you mean _no?!"_ Furious, Kai turned and swung his blades across the field, wrapping around the jade snow leopard who refused to budge, and dragging him back in front of him just as the cannons all fired at once.

Tai Lung gave a roar of protest as he spent his final moments used as a shield. The force of the multiple concussive blasts shattered the leopard to bits and propelled Kai backward, through several rows of trees, until he disappeared from sight. As the dust settled, Shen, his army, and the masters of the Jade Palace assembled to continue the fight. But Kai did not return.

Shifu closed his eyes for a moment, feeling for the yak's immense chi. "...He's gone."

"Gone?" Po asked hopefully. "You mean...we beat him?"

"Gone as in _left_."

The panda's expression deflated. "Oh."

"Interesting." Shen jumped as the Soothsayer suddenly appeared behind him.

"What was?" he scoffed. "You know how skilled of a tactician I am."

"And yet you ignored the best chance you've had at destroying Kai for good in order to protect your troops," she smiled, stroking her beard. "Very interesting."

"Please. I simply need all the resources I can get at a time like this," he replied, not looking at her. "A victory at such a heavy cost is no victory at all."

"Of course," she said, chuckling. _Perhaps there is hope for him after all._

* * *

Needless to say, explanations were sorely needed after all was said and done. There was such a need in fact, that there were literally separate groups just to efficiently share it all.

"So let me get this straight," Crane said patiently. "While we were out there fighting Kai, you were literally learning the secrets of the universe from some bat demon that lives in Shen's shadow?"

"Technically, universe _s,_ " Po corrected. "Plural."

"Right, right, of course," Mantis said, as if this life-changing perspective on reality itself was no biggie. "So this guy, Hei Yinying-"

"I think it's pronounced **Yinying.** "

They stared at him. "...Okay, I don't know how you did that, but never do it again."

"Sorry."

"So this guy has some kind of demonic hold over Shen, and now the peacock is fated to kick the bucket by midnight tonight?"

Po looked away. "...That's about the size of it, yes."

"You seem strangely bummed about that," Mantis noted. "I mean, I get that you don't like this kind of thing, but you have to admit, he kinda has it coming."

"All life is precious," Po countered. "I won't just sit back and let one be snuffed out if I can stop it."

The bug shrugged. "Well, no point arguing with the guy who was wronged the most. If you want to save his butt from eternal damnation, go for it!"

"That said," Crane cut in. "How exactly were you planning to go about that?"

Po opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. "...Still working on that part."

* * *

Seeing this scene from afar was a concerned Shifu. He looked towards the Soothsayer, who was retelling the story to a large group of wolves like a grandmother to her children.

"I take it you've heard something troubling?" the goat asked before he could say anything. "I'm afraid my hearing is not as good as it used to be, even without those large ears of yours."

"They're not _that_ big," Shifu muttered, earning a chuckle out of her. It seemed her hearing was better than she implied.

"You are concerned about the panda's feelings on the matter," she stated.

"I am. Sometimes I wonder if he is really cut out to be the Dragon Warrior," he admitted. "Not physically of course; he's more than proven himself in that regard. But I worry that his emotional state is still too fragile for situations like this. From what I heard, he reacted very strongly to the news about his family, and now he is already trying to protect the one who caused it. It isn't natural."

"No, it isn't," she agreed. "But is that such a bad thing? Was it not Po's caring disposition that helped you to achieve inner peace?"

It was almost like having another Oogway. "Yes, and I suppose I should at least give him the benefit of the doubt. At this rate, he may well achieve inner peace himself before the day is out."

"Indeed. Sadly, it is not the panda we should be concerned about."

"I know." He turned his head the opposite way to see Lord Shen conversing with the Chief Gorilla about the situation. The simian was uncharacteristically speechless. "Be honest, how good do you think the odds of Shen achieving peace are?"

"Slim," she said bluntly. "Very slim. But there is still a chance. Already, he has grown far more than I expected. The Shen _I_ knew would not have protected his own soldiers like that, or agreed to an alliance with all of you for so long."

"Perhaps the acceptance of his own mortality has changed him."

"Perhaps it has, but I am more inclined to believe that your pupil has had this effect on him."

"It always comes back to Po, doesn't it?" Shifu chuckled lightly. "Well as my master used to say, nothing is impossible."

"A good saying," she nodded. "Your master was wise indeed."

Shifu looked to Po again, currently cheering up his friends with what looked like a bad impression of Kai. The three of them doubled over laughing as if it were just another day. "Yes, yes he was."

* * *

Meanwhile, Shen was just finishing up his own explanation to his soldiers, which was brief and not particularly helpful. He had just saved all of their lives after all, it wasn't like he _owed_ them anything. Or maybe the greater reason was that he simply didn't want to show weakness, his contract with Yinying summed up by a simple, "Oh yes, and there's some demon too."

He spent more time discussing what to do next, his militaristic mind already formulating battle strategies against Kai. His best plan was, unsurprisingly, the most complex. "Are...are you sure that will work, sir?" asked the Chief Gorilla cautiously.

"Of course I'm sure! If there's anything this morning's skirmish has taught us, it's that Kai _can_ be beaten through the right combination of power and ingenuity! But a head-on assault is out of the question, no matter _how_ we go about it. He simply has too much chi backing him up." He smirked. "Which is why we will plan a sneak attack. The big lummox will never expect us to sneak all of this weaponry into the city without him noticing."

"Yeah, neither will I, because that's impossible."

"As some old geezer from the north once said, nothing is impossible." It was a bold claim, and one that had the soldiers scratching their heads in confusion, but if Shen was _this_ confident about it, they knew better than to question him.

 **Sneaking your army into the city undetected? I think I know what you have planned, Mr. Shen. So you're stealing ideas from your own underlings now? Oh wait, wrong universe. Sorry, I get them confused.**

"I didn't ask for your input," Shen hissed quietly.

 **Actually, you did. Hence why you're in this mess to begin with.**

"Either tell me something useful or shut the hell up!" he shouted, startling his soldiers.

"Okay, okay, we'll go along with it! Geez..." said the Chief Gorilla, crossing his arms.

Ignoring his confused minions, Shen leaned forward and grinned confidentially. "Now then, this is what we're going to do..."

* * *

Kai had no words left to describe how royally pissed he was. It simply went without saying now. Not _one!_ He couldn't even manage to nab _one stinking master!_ Damn them, damn Shen, damn his giant, cheating weapons! The idea that someone had actually created a defense strong enough to withstand an assault from _him_ just seemed like heresy of the highest caliber. The yak was quickly running out of options now. Why did he still have to be so damn _weak?!_

In the midst of this self-pity, his eyes flashed several times in succession. _Finally!_

Grinning like a child on his birthday, Kai turned to face his jombies as they returned to him en masse, holding several powerful masters in tow. But all Kai saw was a boatload of chi. "It's a battle of attrition, Shen. And we both know I'm gonna come out on top."

* * *

 _Just to confirm what most of you already figured out, yes that's Tai Lung. (Not like I made it very hard.) Now before anyone calls BS on Tai Lung being one of Kai's jombies, I should point out that this is actually canon. A while back, fans found a few select screenshots of a certain amulet hanging from Kai's belt that bore a remarkable resemblance to everyone's favorite snow leopard. If you're a bit skeptical about that, I understand, but look it up and just try and tell me that's not him._

 _Now here's the thing. I was actually considering making a oneshot called "Tai vs. Kai: Evil Beginnings", but I've since changed my mind. While a fun idea, I felt it didn't really add anything to this story that couldn't already be inferred. Additionally, its already been done. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out "Sorry Not Sorry" by IronicSnap. It pretty much has everything I would ever want from such a fic, and might even be a little better than what I had planned. So if you have an itchin' to see the two powerhouses go at it, there you go._

 _I expect only long-time followers of my work to figure out what Shen's plan is. The rest of you will just have to wait until next time. :P_


	18. Looking Inwards

_Who wants a double update? I know you do!_

 _I admit, a bit of a slower chapter, but after this one, the action will pretty much get cranked up to unholy levels and stay there. So look forward to that._

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Looking Inwards**

Ever since Kai's takeover, Gongmen City had lost its usual hustle and bustle that came with being one of the largest cities in all of China. Aside from the occasional show of dominance, public humiliation, or gladiatorial match, the city was almost eerily quiet. But for the past hour or so, Kai had single-handedly brought the region back to a semblance of its former self.

"OH YES! OH YES YES YES! I AM FEELING THE POWER! THIS IS GLORIOUS!"

The yak stood atop the largest rooftop he could find, which was getting increasingly lower as he had already destroyed the three tallest buildings in the city. Surrounded by legions of newly-made jombies, he stared down at his glowing hooves, grinning madly at the intense chi energy that emanated from them. The veritable buffet of chi that had just been served to him on a silver platter would be enough to sustain him for a long, _long_ time. And to think, he had almost started to lose hope. _Silly Kai, doubting is for mortals._

 **Are you quite enjoying yourself, Mr. Kai?**

Well he wasn't _now._ "Not you again. I'm trying to have a moment here."

 **It's been many moments actually, but I digress. Would you mind if I asked you a question?**

"I would, but it's not gonna stop ya," Kai grumbled.

 **Oh, don't be like that. Maintaining healthy communication with my clients is part of the job. It builds a more favorable impression, you see.**

"Actually, I think I liked you better when you didn't talk that much. So what's your damn question?" He tapped his hoof impatiently on the rooftop.

 **Well, it's just that I have to wonder why you keep putting yourself in harm's way like this. Considering the terms of your contract, I expected you to be perfectly content bunkering down in this fallen city.**

"Does it matter?" he snapped.

 **Not really. Call it professional curiosity. No skin off my teeth of course.**

"Well you probably don't get this, sitting behind your demon desk and all, but I'm a _warrior_. And warriors don't crawl into some hole to hide at the first sign of danger. I am _not_ going to back down from a challenge, Yinying." He lifted a blade and stabbed it into his own shadow for emphasis. " _Any_ challenge."

The shadow instantly shifted into a silhouette of the bat himself. Even with no facial features, he could tell Yinying was smirking at him.

 **I see. Good to know that my assessment of you was accurate then. Not that I particularly care either way.**

"What do you mean you _don't care?_ " Kai asked, more than a little miffed by now. "Don't you have some kind of stake in this? Just what the hell kind of game are you playing here?!"

 **That's classified.**

"Okay, I have a better question. What do you want me to do right _now?_ "

 **Whatever you want.**

Kai's mouth fell open, halfway through asking an "even better" question when he realized that his time would have been better spent not saying a word to begin with. Grunting to himself, the spirit warrior sat himself down on the roof and reached out to his soldiers. Positioned throughout the city, they would keep watch for Lord Shen and the Jade Palace masters. Emboldened by their earlier victory, it was only a matter of time before they came right to him.

His eyes opened, glowing bright green.

 _And once you do, I'll make sure you won't get away again. This ends tonight._

* * *

Po looked around at the clearing uneasily. It was, after all, the same one where they had been through that unfortunate encounter with Hei Yinying. "Okay, explain this to me again. What are we doing here?"

Shifu sighed. The attention span of his newest student was smaller than Master Mantis. " _You_ are here to attain inner peace. I am here to watch."

"Inner peace. Right," Po said, idly kicking at a rock. "So we're gonna go into my memories about what happened in my old village?"

"Correct."

"Wouldn't that be better done _at_ the village?"

"Considering its current occupants, no." Not even Grandmaster Oogway could find peace in the midst of war preparations. "The Soothsayer is taking Shen to another location to work on him. He is a more...difficult case."

"Yeah, I would imagine." Po glanced up to see some dew dripping off a nearby tree. "So how does this work? You want me to go stand under that and try to get inner peace-y?"

Shifu pinched his brow. He didn't want to admit that he was pretty much winging this. His own road to peace had taken far more time than they had to lose. "You could start by explaining exactly what you remember."

Po blinked in surprise. "But I already told you, didn't I? Just some crazy visions about my old village being attacked, then my mom running away, then...nada. I can't remember anything else."

So he said, but Shifu noticed an unmistakable tension in his voice. " _Can't_ Po, or _won't?_ I understand that this must be very hard for you, but I believe you are blocking out your own memories. It's a form of self-defense to protect yourself from pain."

The panda looked over at Shifu like he had just summoned a shining pillar of light. "H-How do you know that?"

Sighing, Shifu rested his staff on Po's shoulder, looking up at him. "You are not the only one who has had trouble with repressed memories. For many years, I willingly blocked out all of my fond memories of Tai Lung. I thought it would be easier that way...if I didn't see him as a student anymore."

"Was it?"

"No." He shook his head firmly. "In the end, all that did was make me bitter and cruel, unable to open up to the family I had left. It was that very blockade that kept me from inner peace for decades." Po jumped a little as Shifu's staff hit him swiftly in the backside. "But I have achieved that state now, and it is all thanks to you. So I will not allow you to suffer this any longer!"

Shifu paused for a moment. "Consider it my way of thanking you," he added, seeing Po stumble towards the dripping tree. "Now begin."

"Alrighty then…" Po took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he slowly shifted one foot back, moving his paw face-up towards the dripping dew. "Let's give this a shot."

* * *

"Are...are you serious, sir?" The Chief Gorilla swallowed a lump in his throat. "No one has touched that place for decades. Who knows how stable it is."

"I am aware of the risks. However, I believe it is our best chance of getting the drop on Kai." Shen looked over the plan he had drawn up. Several large circles and lines covered a rough blueprint of the city, with an arrow drawn from their current position to a spot near the center, bypassing all of them. "By now, he will surely have built up his defenses in preparation for an all-out assault. I'm afraid we will not be able to storm Gongmen City as easily as we did before, so what I propose is that we-OW!"

Entranced in their master's voice, the assembled wolves and simians took a second to notice that he was no longer standing there. Turning their heads in unison, they watched as the peacock prince was unceremoniously dragged away by the wing. The Soothsayer led him along calmly, having had years of experience as his nanny. Had he an ear, she would have grabbed one. "What is the meaning of this, Soothsayer?!"

"There is no more time to dawdle. We must speak," she said bluntly.

"I am not dawdling! I am formulating our plan against Kai!" he protested.

"With such an unsettled mind, any plan is doomed to fail."

"But...but...ughhh." Shen bowed his head in defeat, knowing he could not resist the pull of the nanny. "Fine. But this had better be quick."

"That depends on you." Without another word, the goat led Shen away from the camp, to a secluded spot under a row of trees. "If it is your fate to die, as even you have come to accept, don't you at least wish to do more in your final day than make battle plans?"

"I-" Shen stopped himself before he could counter. Truthfully, he DID want more. Now that he knew he was stuck under Yinying's thumb, he at least wanted to find out why. Why had he ever made such a horrible agreement in the first place? He was a better strategist than that! "You're right. I can't allow that damned bat to impede me any further."

She frowned. Already, he was off on the wrong track. "Shen, this isn't _about_ your deal with that demon. If you continue to obsess over those lost details, you will never find peace."

"So the panda has to remember his past, but I'm supposed to _forget it?"_

"You need to _move on_ ," she clarified. "However you got into this situation, that no longer matters. All you can do now is make peace."

"Peace?" He stomped his talons into the soft dirt. "I've gone from sitting on the throne with a future as the Emperor of China, to heading to my death against some nobody from five centuries ago. How could I ever find peace in these circumstances?"

"By focusing on what is truly important," she pressed. "Your family, those closest to you, the ones who will be most affected by your departure." The goat gently wrapped her arms around his torso. "...Like me."

He stiffened at the sudden embrace. "A-And my army?"

"And your parents."

Shen pulled himself out of her grasp immediately. "Of all the things you could say, my _parents?_ My parents hated me! After what they did, you think I can make peace with them?"

"No Shen, they _loved_ you," she insisted. "After your banishment, your parents fell gravely ill. Despite the best efforts of me and the best medics in the empire, in only a matter of days, they both perished. Why do you think Gongmen has been under the control of the Master's Council for so long?"

He paused for just a moment. "...P-Preposterous."

She nodded solemnly. "It's true, Shen. They too, were unable to move on, and in the end, it killed them."

"Enough!" he yelled, his voice wavering. "It matters not! Even if I _could_ , making peace with my parents would do no good now!"

"Why not?"

He craned his neck down to face her, hissing coldly. "Because I won't be seeing them ever again. Not where _I'm_ going."

Stunned into silence, the Soothsayer could only stand and watch as Shen whirled around and stormed out. Digging her cane into the soil she looked up at the sky, barely visible through the trees.

"My Lord and Lady, I am sorry. It seems that even in this last endeavor, I have failed you..."

* * *

As Po fell slowly into a trance, the visions hit him almost instantly. Putting a paw to his head, he saw the remnants of his past flicker by in brief flashes.

 _His father fighting the wolves._

 _His mother fleeing from the village, carrying the infant Po in her arms._

 _Being chased through the trees, wolves in hot pursuit._

 _Coming upon a stray radish cart._

 _And then…_

Po struggled to keep focus of the vision, knowing he couldn't afford to lose track of it now. What was his mother doing with him? How did this all end?

"She...she saved me?" Po mumbled softly as the vision played out. The image of his mother placing him in the cart and luring the wolves away was one he knew he would not forget again.

 _I get it now. Mom had to rescue me back then because I was too small and weak to protect myself._ He shook his head, feeling his own subconscious disagree with him. _No, it's not that. No one could have survived a situation like this without help. Shen...in a way, he's just like I was back then. Even with all of his weapons and kung fu, he's just as powerless against Yinying._ As Po's mind calmed, he already felt himself going through the motion of catching a drop of dew, letting it slide along his arm. _So even if it kills me, I have to help him!_

Shifu watched Po in silence, having little inclination as to what he was going through. A few times, he had the urge to speak up and encourage the panda, but he knew this was something he had to see through on his own.

After what felt like an eternity, Po deposited the dew drop onto the leaf of a plant and finally breathed out, opening his eyes and slowly turning around.

"I am ready."

* * *

"Now back to business!" Shen shouted, getting the attention of his lackeys, who were just about to wander off for a nap. "We need to finalize this plan."

The Chief Gorilla did a double-take, but quickly regained his composure. "...And as I was saying earlier, it's too risky to trek into the Undercity. All of that commotion could bring the whole place collapsing on top of us!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Shen asked, glaring at him. "As it stands, we are stuck in a permanent stalemate waiting for Kai to make a move. And with him growing more powerful which each master he sucks up, it's only a matter of time before he's able to crush us a lift of a finger. We can't afford to just sit around and wait for him." Especially since he didn't _have_ that kind of time.

Still, he _had_ just gone through the trouble of saving his army from being blown to bits. Could he really rest easy leading them all into certain peril again?

He shook his head, frustrated at himself for even feeling this way. When did he start getting such inconvenient thoughts? "I intend to lead our army through the Undercity and into Gongmen. I will accept no other course of action, but...I will not force any of you. If you do not wish to endanger yourselves, you may stay behind."

Again, the assembled crowd was stunned by the unexpected compassion. "Uh...are you feeling alright, Lord Shen?" The Chief Gorilla scratched his head. "First, you start talking about demons and stuff, and now you're acting like _this?_ " The bird shot him a withering glare. "N-Not that I'm complaining or anything!"

Shen growled, withdrawing a knife and stabbing it into the paper before him. "I don't have time for this foolishness! So are you _in_ or _out?_ "

There was a ripple of uneasiness that passed through the soldiers, and for a moment, Shen feared that they were indeed about to abandon him. But slowly, the troops stepped forward in support of their master. "Alright, fine. Not like we've got much of a life left at this rate," grumbled the Chief Gorilla.

"Works for me," Shen said, not caring about the specifics. He wrapped a wing around his knife to pull it out. "Now as I was saying-"

"Hey, Shen!"

Letting out an indignant squawk, Shen jerked his wing back, causing the knife to tear straight through the carefully-designed plans. "What is it?!" he yelled, whirling around on whoever was dumb enough to interrupt him _again_.

Somehow, he wasn't surprised that it was the panda. "What do _you_ want?"

He looked down at the ground uncomfortably, as if somehow surprised by the peacock's less than cordial attitude towards him. "Just...wondering how you're doing...in terms of...you know…"

"Oh, I'm just _peachy._ What about you? Shouldn't you be off getting your inner peace or whatever?"

"Just did."

Shen had almost turned back to his work, but suddenly spun back to face him again, his beak dropping in shock. "What?! Already?!"

Po grinned and shot him a thumbs-up. "Yep! I'm gonna give Kai an inner peace of my mind!"

Shen bristled, hearing several soldiers behind him struggling to stifle laughter.

"Wow, who knew enlightenment was that easy?"

"He was only gone like twenty minutes."

"How did _that_ guy do it, but _Shen_ couldn't?"

Oblivious to these remarks, Po put his arm around Shen's shoulder like an old pal. "Hey, don't worry about it. It wasn't easy for me at first either. You just gotta figure out what's really ailing you and put it behind you. There's no point worrying about the past when-"

"Silence!" Shen swung out a blade, cutting Po's arm.

The panda hissed in pain, clutching at the wound. "Hey, what the heck? I'm just trying to help."

"I didn't ask for your help, and I certainly don't _need_ it! Now be gone!" Shen yelled, sweeping his wing in emphasis.

"That's not very peaceful."

"NOW!"

Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, Po just slumped over and walked off. Satisfied, Shen turned back around, only to see his troops staring at him in silence. "What?"

"N-Nothing, sir," the Chief Gorilla said, a bit too quickly. "Back to the plan?"

He nodded. "Back to the plan."

* * *

"I take it that didn't go over well?" Shifu asked, seeing his student sulking over to him.

"Not really, no." Po glanced back over his shoulder, where Shen and his army were assembled. "I just wish I could get through to him somehow."

"I see." Shifu just nodded, not particularly surprised. "And this troubles you? Even after you were able to attain inner peace?"

"It troubles me even more now." Shifu raised an eyebrow. "I know for certain that I need to help Shen, but how am I supposed to do that when he won't _let_ me?"

"Shen has been struggling with this for far longer than you have. I'm afraid he'll need more than a tree and an epiphany to open up." He would have said more, but he couldn't come up with any further response that wouldn't just darken Po's mood further.

Nor did he get the chance to. "So what were those guys talking about anyway?"

He stared over at Shen and his crowd. "How would _I_ know? You were the one over there."

"Well yeah, but...you know…" Po made a not-so-subtle gesture towards Shifu's ears.

The red panda sighed. "Shen is planning to attack Kai through the Undercity."

"Awesome!" Po nodded quickly. "...What's the Undercity?"

"As the name suggests, it's the 'old' Gongmen City that exists beneath the current one," said the Soothsayer, appearing out of nowhere. Po briefly wondered if that was a secret talent of old wise people. "Due to its unstable foundation, entry is strictly prohibited. The general populace doesn't even know of it's existence."

"But Shen does."

"Of course he does. It's a secret passed down through the royal family."

"And Shifu?" Po pointed a thumb at the red panda.

"Master Oogway kept many, _many_ scrolls," he answered. "There's little to do sometimes except read them."

"Don't suppose you have anything on breaking demon contracts?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Worth a shot," Po shrugged before turning back to the Soothsayer. "So Shen's never actually been to this place?"

"No. Entering the Undercity without reason is practically suicide," the goat answered softly. "But I suppose that doesn't matter to him anymore."

"Yeah…" Po looked back to Shen, in the middle of finalizing his plans. This was getting more dire by the minute. Even his nanny seemed to have given up on him now.

 _There's gotta be something I can do...there just HAS to be._

* * *

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" asked Master Crane, watching as Shen and his army assembled in front of him. After heading out for battle, their trek back to the city had taken a slight detour, and now the large group was stationed in front of what appeared to be a featureless rock wall. A wall that they were now aiming a half-dozen cannons at.

Shen put his head in his wing, af if seriously contemplating this. "Well, I suppose we _could_ do this carefully and spend the rest of the day digging our way into the Undercity, but I'm in a bit of a rush here. FIRE!"

On his signal, the guns all fired at once, blowing the wall apart as if it were made of paper. When the dust settled, what remained was a nice, gaping hole. "See? Perhaps fate isn't kicking me when I'm down just yet." He extended his wing into the darkness. "Now, proceed slowly! I don't want anyone bringing this whole complex down on us!" A few wolves gulped, but the army proceeded forward regardless, large weapons in tow.

"Are you all prepared?" Shifu asked, standing at the back with his students.

"Sure, if all works out, we'll be able to put the kibosh on Kai," said Mantis. "And if not, maybe we'll be lucky enough to get crushed to death instead of jombified."

"That's the spirit," said Po, grinning as he took to the front of the group. "And I'm gonna go save Shen in the interim." He pumped a fist. "Go team!"

"Huh. I kind of thought inner peace would make him a lot more, you know, _peaceful_ ," Mantis whispered over to Crane, which was picked up by Shifu as well.

It seemed only he had noticed the change. With inner peace, the last of the panda's doubts had been pacified. He knew his goal and he was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish it.

And if anyone could actually manage to pull this off, it was him.

* * *

 _So who guessed Undercity? A grand total of one person by the looks of it. For those who don't know (i.e. everyone else), the Undercity is a location from the KFP2 video game, which was less than stellar, but at least provided this interesting little location. And yes, I have used this exact idea in another fic before. Technically it was a different universe so there. :P_

 _Po attaining inner peace was somewhat of a foregone conclusion since all of the pieces were in place for him now that he's forgiven Shen and he just had to uncover the truth about his family to make that final push. That said, I wanted to make it at least a BIT more complicated than "Kay, done", so I added in that little epiphany just to make it more interesting. Shen, naturally, didn't work out so well._


	19. City of Darkness

_Updates continue to get slower as I add even more fics into my rotation. Well I'm still pressing forward and that's what matters, right? Much like Po, I stubbornly refuse to let things die. :P_

 _I'd also like to acknowledge Mind Jack for officially joining me on this project as co-author once again. Hopefully he can help to get my ass in gear a little more._

* * *

 **Chapter 19: City of Darkness**

There was something very unnerving about this place. The winding stone tunnels, dark crevices, and general creepy atmosphere probably had a lot to do with that. Or maybe it was just that no one had bothered to say a word since they got here.

Lord Shen entered the Undercity first, followed closely by the Soothsayer, then the Chief Gorilla and the numerous troops that formed his army, large cannons spread between them, and finally the Jade Palace team in the back. They weren't sure if their role here was to provide rear support, or just being the easiest to ditch if the going got rough. The latter wouldn't be a problem. The place was so dark they wouldn't even be able to see each other if not for the small lanterns passed around to each group.

"Your buddy Shen sure seems to be keeping you at arm's length," Crane said sarcastically, illuminated in the glow of a lantern atop his head. Mantis, the one holding it, could only nod.

Po flinched, rapidly running out of excuses for the peacock. "Don't worry...I'm sure he'll come around. Sides', he's probably safer up there with all of us watching his back."

"You mean having all of the death weapons armed at his back," Mantis added, gesturing his head towards the cannons.

"Well...that too." Po rubbed his head, looking around at the drab scenery. "So what exactly is down here anyway aside from doom and gloom?"

"Ever since it was abandoned, the Undercity has served various uses," Shifu said, trying to recall his limited knowledge of the place. On the end of his staff hung a second lantern just in case they lost one; a surprising show of generosity from the peacock prince. "Some of Gongmen's rulers have come down here for knowledge, to witness the city's prior history and learn from it. Others have made archeological expeditions, still trying to uncover more. And some have even used it as an unconventional storage or shelter during times of war."

"Kinda like us?"

"I suppose you could say that."

Po thought to himself for a moment, only interrupted by a sudden waft of dust that made him sneeze. Shifu quickly moved his lantern out of the way, lest the panda somehow manage to blow it out. "So...if this place has a bunch of old knowledge stored in it, do you think they have some kind of old library or something?"

Shifu sighed, already seeing where this was going. "It's a _possibility,_ but I don't know for-"

"Awesome! Think we can keep a lookout for something like that?"

"Woah woah woah, wait a minute," Mantis interrupted. " _Po_ wants to find the _library?_ " He looked back over his shoulder. "Did we cross over into another alternate universe back there?"

"I'm just trying to get some more info on this whole demon thing," he admitted. "That kind of stuff is really ancient knowledge, right? So I figure where better to look than an ancient city?"

"Po, there are so many holes in that logic I don't even know where to begin," Shifu said dryly. "But more importantly, we can't afford to waste time searching through such knowledge even if we _did_ happen to come across it. Our biggest priority is saving the world from Kai."

"But what about Yinying?" the panda protested, almost whining. "That guy is seriously bad news himself _and_ he's allied with Kai!"

"Whatever that unpleasant shadow demon is after is not our concern right now." Shifu stared up at his student sympathetically. "I know it's not easy, but the simple fact is that the world _needs_ you, Po. We need to do what's best for _everyone_ , not just Shen. We have a tough mission ahead of us and we must have the Dragon Warrior standing by our side."

Po struggled to find a comeback. "But...but...but what about chi, huh? You need chi to stop Kai and I don't got it! So how's the Dragon Warrior gonna be any more useful than anyone else?"

"That's...a good point actually." Now Shifu was the one struggling. True, Po had managed to pull off inner peace, albeit in a highly unconventional way, but mastery of chi was even more difficult and their time was almost up.

But he at least had to do _something._ "Take this."

Po stopped in place, surprised at the object suddenly thrust into his paws. "Oogway's staff?"

"Master Oogway was the most talented master of chi in existence," Shifu explained. "Even now I can feel some of his power flowing through that staff. It has helped to channel my own abilities, and now I hope it can provide some help to you as well."

"Uh...thanks?" Po looked at the staff skeptically. It seemed even he wasn't _that_ naive.

Truthfully, Shifu had very little faith that staff was going to do anything to help him learn chi. He had essentially given him a stick to plug a damn. But it was an idea, and frankly the only idea he had. "You can hold on to that for now, but I want it back after the world is saved."

"Yes, master!" Po said cheerfully, hooking the staff onto the back of his pants. The sense of duty had apparently cheered him up a little. Hopefully enough to carry him through the battle to come.

"Come on, we have to keep moving." Shifu waved to his students to follow as he quickened his pace to catch up with the others.

Po glanced back at the wooden staff, still hanging a lantern on it's end, then back around the halls. It couldn't hurt just to keep watch, right?

* * *

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?!"

Kai sat back down on the roof, his fingers tapping impatiently against the tile. Preparing for battle was a long and tedious process, he knew that well. Even so, it didn't take _this_ long, especially with his jombie lookout squad not seeing so much as a speck out of place. And then he had decided, almost on a whim, to send a couple back to the ruined village to see what the hold up was. Culminating in the above outburst.

 **Where indeed? A question for the ages.**

"I am _not_ in the mood for your shit right now!" Kai turned away from yelling at his own shadow to look back over the city, as if his hated foes would suddenly appear right before him.

 **Don't worry, I'm sure they will turn up eventually. Mr. Shen especially has quite a...pressing need to.**

"You sure sound pretty confident about that," he said sourly. "I bet you know exactly where they are right now too."

 **Of course.**

"And I'm guessing you're not gonna be cooperative for once and just tell me. Because that would just be too damn easy."

 **And I must admit, it's rather amusing seeing you get worked up like this.**

Kai willed himself not to snap at him, given that he had literally just admitted to wanting that. "You know what? Just...just piss off already. I'm just gonna sit here and wait for them. _Alone._ "

 **Fine fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I believe this matter requires further investigation anyway.**

Without warning, Yinying suddenly broke away from Kai's shadow, and the bat's silhouette glided down from the rooftops, driven towards its own purposes.

"Hey, what do you mean by-" Kai shook his head and turned away again. "Nope. Not gonna take the bait. I just gotta wait." Closing his eyes in a strange facsimile of mediation, he started breathing slowly in and out. "No bait, just wait. No bait, just wait. No bait, just wait…"

* * *

" _W-What are you-?"_

" **You believe you are at peace, but what if I told you your life did not have to end just yet? I have come to you offering a second chance. Would you like to make a deal, Mr. Shen?"**

 _Shen scowled at the voice. Dark netherland or not, he wasn't one to submit so easily. "Oh really? It's that simple is it? To erase everything I've done just like that?_

" **Not everything. That is quite impossible even for me. But what I CAN do is provide you an opportunity to redeem yourself. Not just in your own eyes, but in the eyes of others…"**

 _The peacock just floated there, mulling it over. There was no way this was as simple as he was making it sound, but with nothing else to look forward to but the depths of Hell, it was an easy decision to at least hear him out. "Alright then...what would I have to do?"_

 _He heard the dark voice chuckle, and then begin to speak..._

 **I don't think so.**

"Aggh!" Shen stopped abruptly and clutched his head, resulting in a comical halt of everyone behind him as the troops struggled not to bump into each other or the cannons. These hallways were cramped enough as is.

"Shen, what is it?" asked the Soothsayer, still trying to comfort him. She didn't get to be his nanny by being easily deterred.

The peacock growled, stomping a talon in frustration as he waved his lantern, signalling to the army to start following him again. "I keep trying to recall my lost memories, especially of that damn deal, but Yinying keeps blocking me, cutting it off before I can get anywhere! I bet he's enjoying watching me squirm!" He glanced down at his shadow. "...What, no comment?"

"Why do you need to know about this so badly? What's done is done," she insisted.

"Because he's trying to _hide_ something from me. That one, specific detail! And if he doesn't want me to know, I can only assume it's because it would help me break away from him." He hissed to himself, rubbing a wing across his head. "Call it a gut instinct, but I just _know_ there's something critical we're all missing here. My subconscious is practically screaming at me to remember it, but I just. Can't. Do it!"

He strained again for a few moments, thinking with as much force as he could muster, but released a heavy breath and slumped over again. "If I'm going to die, I at least want to know the specifics."

"Most people don't even get that," the goat pointed out.

"Most people aren't me." Shen peered ahead into the dark corridors before him, about as black and unknown as his own fate, and just sighed.

The outburst hadn't gotten unnoticed. In this enclosed space, the sound of his frustrated squawks echoed back across the ranks of his troops, confusing some and unnerving others, all the way to the end. "Did you hear that?" Po asked.

"Of course I did," Shifu said, one of his large ears twitching. Personally, he wished he hadn't.

"Sounds like Shen is really suffering..."

Mantis shrugged. "Least he won't have to suffer for long." He was shocked when Po actually stopped to glare at him. "Er...too soon?"

"Let it go, Po," Shifu advised again. "We need to keep pressing forward."

"...Yes, master." Po kept moving, but at a slower pace, lagging behind his comrades. He hated everything about this. He knew Shifu was right, but his own stubborn personality kept him from accepting it, no matter how much his hopes got dashed. Was this part of being the Dragon Warrior? If so, maybe he wasn't cut out for the job after all.

 _No, I can't give up! For the sake of Tigress, Monkey, Viper, and everyone else who's been lost already, I can't turn a blind eye to anyone! I have to keep searching for a way! I just need some kind of sign..._

Boosting himself up once more, an effort that was getting increasingly more difficult, Po's eyes started to wander the caverns again. Unfortunately, he still wasn't seeing anything.

Not even the wayward scroll casing he nearly tripped over. "Ack! What's this?" He bent down and picked up the object, turning it back and forth as he examined it. It may have been empty, but the casing was clearly well-used, faded in many places and covered in a fine layer of dust. "Definitely not a new edition…"

And then it clicked. Old casing meant old scroll, old scroll meant old knowledge, old knowledge meant possibly finding a solution to his problem maybe. He still wasn't exactly confident about that.

But it was enough for him. With the confirmation that _something_ was down here to look for, he could never forgive himself for passing up this chance. Seeing yet another tunnel pass by on the left, Po glanced over at his friends and master, still routinely following after Shen's army. _Sorry guys, a panda's gotta do what a panda's gotta do._

For once, stealth mode did not fail him. With Shifu wrapped up in a conversation with his other students, Po discreetly slipped away into the tunnel.

* * *

"And that's your plan?" Crane asked incredulously.

"Doesn't sound very...good," Mantis stated bluntly.

"I know," Shifu sighed, keeping his eyes facing forward. "But this is the only way he's going to learn. If my words won't get through to him, then perhaps experience might."

Crane looked back at the tunnel Po had left through. "Do you think he'll be safe though? I mean, we barely know anything about this place. What if he gets into some kind of trouble?"

"We're about to get wrapped up in a full-scale war with Kai as soon as we breach the surface," he said resolutely. "Being buried several dozen feet underground is about the safest place Po can be right now."

"Is that why you gave him the staff?"

"Indeed. None of us can help him learn how to master chi at this point. All I could do was give him that staff and hope for the best."

"And hey, maybe he'll actually manage to pull it off," Mantis suggested. "If he's being _this_ narrow-minded, all that focus has gotta lead somewhere, right?"

Shifu felt a chill run up his spine, one that he knew wasn't from the cold surroundings. "I sincerely hope so."

* * *

"Okay...place is a lot bigger than I thought."

It was actually kind of amazing how quickly Po had managed to get himself lost. He probably shouldn't have been surprised, considering this was literally the remains of the former Gongmen City, but somehow he hadn't thought that far ahead. "Guess this means going back is _definitely_ out of the question. Might as well look around."

He walked up to the first door he found and creaked it open, popping his head inside. He poked the staff into the room and waved the lantern around, not seeing anything of worth. "Helloooooo?" His voice echoed back at him, making him gulp as he shut the door again.

Searching these maze-like tunnels alone, he also found that the Undercity was a lot _creepier_ than he thought when he wasn't distracted by others. "Oh man, what if there's ghosts? I didn't even _think_ of ghosts!" He shook his head. "No, I ain't afraid of no ghosts. Dragon Warrior doesn't have time for that."

A stone column collapsed somewhere behind him, nearly making him jump straight into the ceiling. "Come on Po, Undercity's just trying to psych you out. You're better than this…" His own voice came back at him again, creeping him out further. "I gotta stop talking to myself." He winced again.

Po started searching in silence for a while, peering into doorways just long enough to confirm nothing was inside before moving on. This method was quick and efficient, albeit not producing much in the way of results so far. _Uh...don't suppose I can get another sign…?_

He stubbed his toe on a stray rock and screamed, clutching his foot. The staff fell to the floor, clattering loudly. The lantern's flame flickered, threatening to go out, making Po rush to pick it back up and blow on the fire to keep it going. _Okay, pushing my luck. Got it._

Given the complete disaster this venture had been so far, even he was surprised when the next door he opened was just what he was looking for. "No way…"

So it wasn't exactly a library, but pretty dang close. He found himself in a wide, circular room, lined with shelves upon shelves of scrolls and a ring of now-defunct torches hanging from the walls. It reminded him of a much dustier, much less fancy version of the Jade Palace Archives. Though it probably looked decent back in the day. "Yes! Finally, I found a bunch of scrolls!" His smile slowly faded as he realized exactly what this meant for him. "Aw crud, I found a bunch of scrolls."

And so he started to slowly and methodically work his way around the room to examine the contents of each shelf, a task so dull and mind-numbing that he would have passed out from sheer boredom in minutes if not for his driving motivation to continue. "Gotta do it for Shen, gotta do it for Shen, man, who cares about Gongmen architecture, gotta do it for Shen, how can there be so many ways to prepare ginseng, gotta do it for Shen, gotta do it for-come on, _another_ one on architecture?"

Learning inner peace had nothing on this. He was starting to sympathize with Master Shifu.

Holding up the lantern for light, his eyes were already getting tired as they continued reading the faded labels, scanning up and down the shelves. "Farming, Alchemy, Ancient History, ain't that ironic, Anatomical studies, Myths and Legends...hold on now." Po stopped at this shelf, which was relatively light in content, but the closest he'd come yet. Grinning like a madman, he started casually flinging scrolls off the shelf one by one as he looked closer. "The Curse of the Nian, Race for the Zodiac, Great Dragons of China...hmm, no, stay focused! Diary of a Jiangshi, Demonic Contracts for Dummies, BINGO!"

He ripped the scroll casing off of it's shelf so quickly he almost dropped it. Leaning the staff onto the shelf, Po unscrewed the casing and pulled out a scroll, unfurling it just a little. "A guide on ancient demons, how they operate, and how to get yourself out of a deal if you're dumb enough to make one," he read, smiling ever-wider. "Yes, this is perfect! There's gotta be a way to save Shen in here!" He stuffed the scroll back into its case and hugged it as if it were his own lost family. "Finally, my luck's starting to change for the better."

" **Interesting theory."**

He froze, hastily snatching up the staff again as he hefted it left, right, and then behind him. He didn't see a thing, but that wasn't what bothered him most. That voice hadn't come from inside his head, but from within this very room.

" **Up here."**

The lantern was rendered moot as the room suddenly lit up, the torches along the walls igniting once more with a sinister, purple flame. Po's head shot up to the ceiling, where he saw Hei Yinying in the flesh, casually hanging upside down as he stared at him. "W-What are you doing here?!"

" **I could ask the same of you, Mr. Po,"** he said, betraying no emotion. " **Aren't you supposed to be traveling with your friends? Decided to find some new reading material, did you?"**

Po hurriedly hid the scroll behind his back, a comically futile effort as Yinying had clearly both seen and heard him already. "No! I d-don't know what you're talking about!" He somehow managed to be even less convincing by looking away and whistling innocently.

" **I see."** Yinying dropped down from the ceiling, flipping himself around in mid air to land on his feet. " **Unfortunately for you, I have experience dealing with far more adept liars than yourself. I must admit that I never expected you to go this far in your misguided attempt to cheat fate, but I can't allow you to take it any further."** Still smiling, the bat reached an outstretched hand towards him. " **With all due respect, Mr. Po, you don't have the slightest idea the kind of forces you're messing with. So please...hand over that scroll before someone gets hurt."**

There was no point in hiding it anymore, but Po kept it behind his back anyway, tucking it into his shorts along with the staff. "Not a chance, pal! I'm not letting Shen fall under your evil mojo and that's final!"

" **Is it now?"** Yinying casually turned that same hand over slightly, so that his palm now faced the panda.

And shot a giant purple fireball at him.

"GAH!" Po rolled to the side as the fireball sailed past him, striking a shelf behind him and igniting the complete set of the Royal Gongmen Encyclopedias. "What the heck was that?!"

" **My apologies,"** Yinying said disarmingly. " **That was an accident. If you wish to sue for liability, there's another demon I could get you in touch with."**

"Buddy, your _face_ is going to be an accident if you don't get out of my way," Po growled, stepping forward. "Or better yet, why don't _you_ hand over that contract you've got controlling Shen?"

" **You mean this one?"** He raised his other hand and the contract casing appeared within. " **I am not at liberty to share such delicate information with a third party."**

"Well you sure as heck aren't getting _this!"_ Po said firmly.

" **Then it seems we are at an impasse. You see, I am not allowed to directly interfere with mortal affairs unless it's related to a deal. Likewise, you cannot take this contract from me."**

"Wanna bet?" Po rushed forward and made a grab for the scroll in Yinying's grasp. His paw passed right through the object, and the demon's arm. He watched, thoroughly freaked out, as the shadowy wisps reformed in front of him.

" **Would you like to try that again?"**

Po growled and made several more swipes at him, breaking Yinying's body apart completely, before he reformed again, an amused smirk on his face. "Ugh, fine. If that's what it takes, then I will make you a deal."

Yinying's brows shot up in surprise. " **Really? You are going to stop one of my deals by making another?"**

"Yep." Po dropped into his stance. "You and me, let's settle this right here, right now. Winner gets both scrolls. That sound good to you?"

Yinying closed his eyes in contemplation. " **...Are you sure that is a wise move, Mr. Po?"**

"Doubt it, but that's never stopped me before." He shrugged his shoulders, remaining in his stance. "I'm not afraid of you. You're just a coward who relies on shady deals and underhanded lies. I bet you've never been in a fight in your life."

The bat demon began to rise above the ground, hovering in front of him. " **It's true that I prefer to use words over weapons, but you seem to have forgotten one thing. Once my clients' contracts are up, I still need...to** _ **collect."**_ He brought his hands together, a miasma of shadows forming between them. When he pulled them apart again, a black, wickedly curved scythe appeared in his grip.

Po took a step back, his confidence wavering. "That looks...pointy." He shook those thoughts away and recomposed himself. "But that's not gonna stop me! You'll take Shen over my dead body!"

Yinying opened his eyes, forming a malevolent grin as his fingers clasped around the scythe.

" **I accept your terms."**

* * *

 _It was so nice getting to bring back the Undercity again after all that time apart. This time, I realized that underground cities are generally pretty dark, so they actually brought light with them this time. I don't know why I didn't account for that before aside from the game not doing so itself. This ended up making it a spookier atmosphere, so it all worked out._

 _Po vs. Yinying. Can you tell I've been waiting to get to this point for a while now? Next chapter is going to be a doozy, I can promise you that. ;)_


	20. Light & Shadow

_Happy New Year, everyone! Well, Chinese New Year anyway. Certainly seems like a good occasion to finally post another chapter. I know you've all been waiting for THIS one, so let's get right into it. :)_

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Light & Shadow**

Po had to admit, even to himself, that he had done some extraordinarily stupid things before. Tying fireworks to a chair just to see the Dragon Warrior selected? Pretty dumb. Actually sticking with it and challenging Tai Lung to a duel? Suicidally dumb. Refusing to run from a chi-powered yak who had literally just beaten his closest friend in front of him? Where to even begin with that one.

But hey, compared to calling out a shadow demon who could potentially doom not just his life, but his _after_ life, all of that didn't seem so bad. If he managed to survive this, he would have one heck of a memoir, that's for sure.

" **Make this quick, will you? I have other appointments to catch."** Po leaned back and dodged the massive scythe that swung inches over his exposed neck. Even though it missed, Po almost felt like it had cut him anyway and stopped to pat his neck just to make sure. Yinying adjusted his grip and swung down at him, making Po yelp and roll out of the way.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna make you, like, _super_ late!" Po sprung off of the ground and launched a flying kick at Yinying's side.

It phased right through him. " **What did you** _ **think**_ **was going to happen?"** Yinying raised a clawed hand and launched a fireball that caught Po in mid-air and flung him back to the floor. Right, a shadow demon that he also couldn't _hit_ , add that to the list.

Po writhed around as he tried to pat down the flames. The sensation was...not what he expected. Instead of heat, Yinying's fire produced an extreme cold, as if his very soul was being frozen solid. It seemed to cause no physical burn, yet it felt so much worse. He had to fight down a chill that tried to keep him rooted to the spot.

Yinying raised his scythe and slammed it hard into the floor, creating a plume of fire that surged across the surface and straight at the panda. Forcing himself to his feet, Po leapt high over the flames, coming down on Yinying with a drop-kick that split his form in two, but didn't shut him up. " **You don't have much pattern recognition, do you?"** Growling in frustration, Po wailed on the wispy demon with everything he had. Punches, kicks, headbutts, belly bounces, all shattered Yinying more and more until he completely faded out of sight.

Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Po panted in exertion. Even Shifu had never worked him that hard. But at least he finally did it. He looked back and forth, even down and up, to make sure Yinying was really gone.

The one spot he failed to check was his shadow. Yinying emerged slowly from the inky blackness, smiling darkly and raising his scythe. " **This has been amusing and all, but seriously, you can die now."** Po only noticed when it was too late, gasping as the demon swung the weapon down on his head. Reflexively, he reached back and grabbed the only thing he could defend himself with: Oogway's staff. He knew a glorified wooden stick, already broken once before, would do little to stop a demonic blade, but it seemed this would be the last stupid move he ever made.

" **...What?"**

Po slowly opened his eyes again, realizing that he had been wrong. Or maybe this was another of Yinying's mind games. If so, the bat sure was a good actor, judging by the dumbfounded look on his face.

As if it were made of solid steel, Oogway's staff was effortlessly blocking Yinying's scythe, a faint golden glow emanating from the point of contact. Of course! Shifu said this thing was still full of Oogway's chi! What better way to fight an incorporeal being than with an incorporeal power? While Yinying was still caught off-guard, Po pushed him back, then swung the staff around and jabbed it hard into his gut.

It was a solid hit.

" **Ack!"** Yinying gasped, more shocked by the mere _sensation_ of pain than anything else. The point of contact appeared to leave a sizzling burn mark, the chi melting away at his dark form. He fell to a knee, one hand supporting him on his scythe and the other clutching his burning stomach.

"Looks like I've found your weakness," Po smirked. "Demon of death, meet the essence of life."

Yinying glared up at the panda in shock and rage. " **Impossible!"**

Po twirled the staff around in his paws, pointing it towards him in what he thought was a badass pose. "Nothing is impossible."

* * *

Shen groaned, rubbing a wing against his head as he leaned up against a wall. "Are you alright, Shen?" the Soothsayer asked in concern.

The bird panted, but forced himself to move again. "I'm fine!" He couldn't afford to show weakness, especially not now. Not when they were this close to the endgame.

Ignoring the whispers that spread through the troops behind them, the goat moved in closer. "Does this have something to do with your...condition?"

"I'm not sure," he answered honestly. "Whatever mental block Yinying put on me, it feels like it wavered for just a moment. I tried to fish out more info from my subconscious, but no luck." He sighed bitterly.

"Don't push yourself too hard or you won't be able to lead your men effectively," she advised. If appeals to morality wouldn't get through to him, she knew he would at least understand tactical efficiency.

He nodded slowly, a scowl etched on his beak. "Kai...Yinying...damn you both."

Like a domino effect, Shen's brief pause caused the rest of the line to stop for a moment as well, all the way to the back. "Okay, something is definitely going on up there," Mantis said, trying his best to see over the group from atop Crane's hat.

The bird glanced behind them, sabotaging the attempt. "I _really_ hope Po gets back soon. Being stuck in these dark corridors without his bright, jolly self makes this so much worse."

"I hear you, man. That guy could cheer up a funeral procession."

Unnoticed by anyone, Shifu stiffened, letting out a light gasp. It was common among masters strong in chi to be able to sense the welfare of those close to them. For him, it was just a brief flash, but he _knew_ his student was in danger. And even worse, there was nothing he could do about it. "...I hope so, too."

* * *

Po lost the psychological advantage quickly. Centuries of haggling with mortals had evidently given Hei Yinying quite the sense of composure.

The shadow demon rose to his feet, already smiling again. " **You can't beat me with your own power, so you leech off the Grand Master's? That doesn't sound very heroic."**

Po smiled wider. "What can I say? I'm the unconventional sort of hero."

With a slight frown, Yinying swung his scythe and launched another wave of fire at him. Po stood his ground, holding the staff in front of him and spinning it quickly, producing a faint yin yang symbol as it reacted. The dark flames hit the makeshift shield and dissipated instantly. Po ended the rotation with a strong thrust that flung his lantern off the end and directly at Yinying.

Naturally, the lantern did no damage whatsoever as it phased through his head and broke on the floor behind him. " **Now what exactly was the point of-?"** Yinying's reformed eyes widened as Po used that moment to rush up and swing the staff into the side of his skull with a sickening crack. As the demon staggered to the side and dropped his weapon, Po hooked the staff under his neck and flung him over his head, into the floor.

Yinying hissed, his neck caught in the crook of the staff as Po pressed it down on him, burning him like a branding iron. "Ready to give up yet?"

In response, Yinying simply glared, then melted into the floor. "Hey!" Po gave chase as Yinying fled across the room in shadow form, trying in vain to jab the staff into him again. As he pursued the sinister silhouette, he heard a sharp cracking sound and jumped to the side as one of the library's shelves crashed down onto the spot where he was just standing. He just spotted the shadowy hand that tipped it over before it disappeared into the floor. "Not cool!"

Another shelf slid across the floor at him, and with no time to dodge, Po extended his leg and kicked it apart. Two more came from each side to sandwich him and Po performed a perfect split kick to knock them away as well. With the library no longer trying to kill him for now, he looked around for Yinying again, but saw nothing amongst the pile of broken shelves and loose scrolls.

Then those scrolls ignited as a fireball whizzed past his head. Po found Yinying above him once again, calmly hanging from the ceiling. " **Impressive, Mr. Po. Despite your lack of common sense, your skill is beyond question."**

"Uh...thanks?"

" **But now we end this,"** he smiled. " **You may have a means of harming me, but unless that staff can sprout wings and fly, I'm afraid this contest is a foregone conclusion."** He snapped his fingers and the scrolls he had lit were lifted into the air by dark tendrils and flung at Po.

The panda dodged left and right, hitting scrolls away with the staff, but a few still chilled him with that unnatural cold as they flew past. "S-So what, you're just gonna stay up there and let your shadows do the dirty work? That's totally cheating!"

" **I'm a** _ **demon!**_ **Cheating is literally my job!"**

To add insult to injury, Yinying waved his hand and the scythe he had dropped earlier was lifted up again by a silhouetted replica of the bat himself, eyes glowing bright as it grinned at him. The first time Po had seen this figure, it was terrifying. Now it was just annoying. He raised the staff to block and swiped at the doppelganger. It shrieked and vanished, only to be quickly replaced by another. " **It helps to have more than one me on standby. Good for PR."**

Po found himself forced on the defensive, pushed back by the relentless attacks of the fake Yinying while unable to attack the real one. Even worse, with every swipe, the wicked blade seemed to cut into his will to even bother.

" **This must be the legendary spirit that the Dragon Warrior is so known for."** From his spot on the ceiling, Yinying's hands moved back and forth, controlling everything below like a dark puppet master. " **Most mortals would have succumbed to despair by now."**

Po blocked a stab from the scythe, feeling another chill run down his spine. He hadn't taken much physical damage, but if Yinying could drain away his psyche like this, then soon enough it wouldn't even matter.

It was already affecting him, as he was so distracted by these thoughts that he failed to notice a pair of shadow hands pop up behind him and grab his ankles, tripping the panda onto his back. He yelled out as the doppelganger raised the scythe above his head and swung down.

* * *

"No bait...just wait...no bait...just...oh, this sucks."

Kai was reduced to actual pacing by now, a few jombies around him pacing along in unison. "Is it too much to ask that I get a little action today? Seriously?" The Tai Lung jombie shook his head. "I didn't think so! I knew I sensed a kindred spirit in you!" Kai grinned and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You get me, right buddy? Just like-"

" _Brother...I promise I'll save you."_

 _The harsh winds tore into him, a bitter cold piercing even his thick fur, even the ground itself proving harder and harder to trudge through. Kai paid no mind to any of it. The only thing that mattered to him was the limp form of the tortoise he carried in his arms. "I won't stop until I find help, even if it costs me my own life!"_

 _General Oogway did not respond. Kai thought he had heard a low moan, but frowned as he realized it was only the wind. He couldn't lost focus now, not if he wanted any hope of getting his brother to safety._

" _Just...just a little further…" Truth be told, he wasn't even sure where he was heading. The camp's medical supplies weren't equipped to treat the multiple arrow wounds Oogway had incurred. The bastards who had ambushed them used arrows intentionally designed to pierce even the tortoise's armor. Such a weapon was bulky and impractical for regular use, but it was clear that Oogway had been their sole target. Surely they thought that by taking out one of the heads of the army, the unstoppable duo that had been running ripshod over China, the entire force would collapse. They were right too._

 _Not that they had much chance to enjoy their victory. Kai personally ensured that not a single one of them escaped the battlefield alive. Oogway would probably berate him for such violence, but he didn't care. Not when his very life was at risk and they couldn't do a damn thing to fix it. His own men actually had the nerve to suggest just letting him die, wanting him to stop wasting their medical supplies on what they considered a lost cause. No one who suggested that was alive now either. So when Kai picked up his brother and stormed out of the camp, no one stopped him._

" _None of it matters now. Once you're better, we'll regroup. We'll take control of the army again or build a new one from scratch. It doesn't matter! Just...please...hold on!" That hope was the only thing still keeping him going, even when all he had to follow were rumors. Rumors of a hidden village in the mountains whose people were said to have mastery over the essence of life itself. Personally, he was more than a little skeptical. That sort of mystical mumbo-jumbo had always been more Oogway's calling. But that was all he had to go on now, so that's what he chose to believe in._

" _Brother...I will save you. I...I must…"_

"ENOUGH DAMMIT, ENOUGH!" Kai's fist slammed into the side of Tai Lung's head, sending it flying straight off. Barely noticing, Kai stomped hard onto the roof, sending a ripple of chi energy surging through the tilles and shattering them. Soon the rest of the building felt its effects and the entire thing crumbled underneath him. When Kai brought his hoof back, he pulled it out of a pile of rubble. That's what it got for mocking him.

Left for so long to just think to himself, it figured these damn memories would continue to plague him. Even centuries later, he remembered them as vividly as yesterday. He almost missed Yinying's company. At least the demon merely annoyed him, not...whatever this was he was feeling right now. He couldn't even tell. Anger, sorrow, disappointment, resentment, there were too many conflicting emotions to tell.

Before he could cause any more damage, his eyes flashed as he suddenly detected a large abundance of chi. He couldn't tell where just yet, but it was close. Finally.

Kai chuckled to himself, already savoring the taste of fresh chi. Throughout the city, every one of his jombies went onto high alert, preparing for battle. It wouldn't be long now. A good general knew when a war was coming, and when it did, then he would have something much more satisfying to break.

* * *

Po blocked the attack, but it hardly mattered. The rush of sorrow and misery that poured into him was so overpowering that he struggled to breathe. Gasping and shaking, Po found himself unable to move as the doppelganger moved away for another swipe. He couldn't take another one of those.

" **I wonder which part of you will die first,"** Yinying drawled, swiping his arm and sending the scythe flying at him. " **Your mind or your body?"**

 _Move, move, move, move, MOVE!_ Using the staff as a lever, Po rolled himself out of the way just in time, still struggling to actually stand. Leaning on the wooden weapon for support, he finally managed it, only to hear the distinctive sound of the blade coming for his back. He wouldn't be able to fully get out of the way this time.

So he didn't. Po threw himself into a backflip, thrusting the staff down and catching the scythe's pole as it flew underneath him, coming down right on top of it. "Ha! Gotcha!" Po blew a raspberry at the doppelganger, his scythe now pinned under the panda's weight. The shadowy bat glared back.

" **Much like Shen's soul, that is my personal property,"** Yinying growled as the doppelganger vanished and was replaced with dozens of tendrils grabbing the scythe and pulling it towards him. The weapon lifted a few inches off of the ground, then dropped back down. " **Ugh! Get off!"**

A few tendrils went for Po, who easily deflected them with a quick swing of the staff. "Make me!" Yinying gritted his teeth and thrust both hands towards him, pulling much harder.

At the same time, the panda jumped. The resulting kinetic energy sent him flying into the air, directly towards Yinying as he readied his staff. "Still think I'm a moron?!"

" **Actually, yes."** The bat swiftly detached himself and flew to the right, avoiding Po's attack completely. While the panda gawked, Yinying conjured a large stream of purple fire in both hands and launched it at his prone form. " **Your last ditch effort will only end with you in your** _ **last ditch!"**_

Caught in mid-air, Po had no hope of dodging the blast. His first instinct was to repeat the maneuver he had pulled on the ground to block it, but that would just put him back on the defensive again. Yinying's strategy was clearly to wear him down and he would only be helping him. So he neither dodged nor blocked; he just threw the staff into the fire and let it wash over him.

Po screamed as the cold flames engulfed him, penetrating his skin, his bones, the very core of his being. They froze him from the inside out, filling him with despair. Visions passed through his mind, flashes of childhood bullies, old humiliations, nightmares, the massacre of his species, the loss of his friends. Every worst memory he'd ever had was dredged up to the surface to torment him anew. He started to wonder if maybe he should just give up now. Why go through all of this effort to protect someone who couldn't stand him? At this rate, he was just going to get himself killed anyway.

As the flames finally stopped, Po fell back to the ground, making no attempt to slow his descent as he slammed hard into the surface of one of the fallen shelves. His breath wavered, his eyes shutting tight as he shivered softly. He was tempted to just lay here and stay like this, where he'd be out of everyone's hair for good.

He just might have too, if not for the piercing scream that roused him again. " **Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaigh!"**

Po slowly opened his eyes, his vision trying to adjust to the light again. His mind was so hazy he barely remembered what happened before the fire hit him. He could vaguely recall being in the air, throwing his staff…

The staff! With renewed energy, Po sat himself up and looked around for the lost weapon. Without that, his slim hope was none at all. As his sight fully returned, he caught a glimpse of black and brown and turned his head, just in time to see Yinying's fist as it plowed into his jaw.

The panda fell onto his back again, knowing he was nearly helpless in this position. But on the bright side, he found the staff. It was impaled straight through the demon's left wing.

Yinying panted, in clear pain as the wound leaked purple blood onto the floor, burning and scarring the flesh around it as visible smoke rose forth. The entire arm had been disabled. To bad he still had another, his hand crackling with dark energy as he brought it down on his head. " **You've made me late for my MEETING!"**

Out of instinct more than anything else, Po raised his leg and kicked out. To his surprise, the blow connected, throwing Yinying back across the floor. With the staff stabbed into him, the demon had been rendered fully corporeal. This was his chance.

Yinying seemed to realize this as well, reaching down and trying to pry the staff out. He screamed again and pulled his hand away, sizzling from chi energy. That thing wasn't going anywhere. As the effects of the dark fire faded, Po got his second wind and pulled himself back to his feet. "Looks like...you're out of ammo...Yinying…"

" **Out of ammo? Me?"** The bat looked at him incredulously. " **You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with, Mr. Po. Let me remind you!"** He thrust his right hand onto the ground, his fingers spreading a curtain of shadows across the surface. Po backed away as the shadows covered the entire floor then crept up the walls, snuffing out the torches and blanketing the room in darkness.

Po looked around uneasily, seeing nothing but black in every direction. He gulped.

" **Welcome...to MY world!"**

* * *

"We're here," Shen announced proudly, watching the group follow him into a wide, circular chamber. One that appeared to have no other exit.

"Uh...here _where?"_ asked the Chief Gorilla.

"The gateway to the main city of course!" he snapped. "Did you think it was going to have a giant sign reading 'Secret Underground Entrance' or something?"

"Guess not. So then how do we open it?"

"Unfortunately, even I do not know for sure," the Soothsayer admitted. "Such secrets are forbidden to all but the royal family themselves. Do you know anything, Shen?"

"Let's see…" Shen started to run his wing along the wall, feeling around. "I remember my father telling me about this in a story long ago. There should be a hidden mechanism on this wall somewhere around...here!" His wing stopped on painted insignia of the royal peacock family, directly over the bird's tail feathers.

The simian cocked his head. "Doesn't look very hidden to me."

"Quiet! It's the _order_ that matters!" He stared at the set of eight feathers for a long while. Finally, he reached forward and pressed each of them in. Nothing. "There's a poem, I believe. One that solves this damned riddle and opens the way. One my mother told me..." For a brief moment, his head tilted slightly downward, conflicted, but he quickly returned his focus to the mural. "It went something like this:"

 _A noble bird's plume shines from the right._

 _Only his every other feather need shimmer bright._

 _Glisten them each with a peacock's might._

 _With a final touch, the royal family takes flight._

"Wow, that is the prissiest poem I've ever heard."

"I said quiet!" Shen pressed each of the feathers into the wall in sequence. As the last one sank in, a loud rumble filled the chamber, dust beginning to rain from the ceiling. "Get ready, everyone. Remember the plan," he said, steeling himself for what awaited them.

The rumbling stopped abruptly, a low whine erupting over the mechanism as the entire thing came to a stop. "What?!"

"I don't understand," said the Soothsayer, surprisingly just as confused. "That seemed to be the correct order." She stroked her beard as a thought came to her. "Where is this supposed to come out? Maybe something is blocking the mechanism from the other side."

"I doubt that. Just look at the size of this gate. It opens right underneath one of the largest buildings in the city." His face slowly paled, closing his eyes in realization as he slumped over. "...Gongmen Jail."

"You mean the place Kai turned into rubble?" asked the Chief Gorilla.

"Yes! And now that rubble is blocking our way out of here!" He stomped a talon in fury. "Even without trying, that big idiot keeps getting in my way!"

As the rest of the group was halted in front of him, Shen watched as a certain three figures moved their way up from the back. It should have been four. "Speaking of big idiots, where is the panda?" the prince asked, narrowing his eyes.

Master Shifu straightened out his robes, unintimidated. "Po is undertaking a secret mission of his own."

"I did not authorize such a thing!"

"Hey, lay off buddy! He's doing this for you!" Mantis yelled back, ignoring a stern glare from Shifu.

Now Shen was just baffled. "...What?" He stormed up to the group, noticing that not just the panda, but the Grandmaster's staff had gone missing. "Explain. Now."

* * *

"Ugh, I am _so_ sick of the dark," Po groaned, trying to make heads or tails of anything. Yinying's special brand of darkness was even more oppressive than the natural kind, to the point that he couldn't see his own paw in front of his face. Even if he still had a lantern, he doubted it would help at all.

" **It's not fitting for a hero of light to be so afraid of the dark,"** Yinying mocked.

"I am _not_ afraid!" he shot back. A scroll casing flew into the back of his head, making him squawk and whirl around to throw a punch at nothing but air.

" **It doesn't have to be this way, you know."**

His fists clenched. "Sure, I could just give up and let you steal Shen's soul. That's what you want, right?" he asked with a growl.

" **Even if you win, the path you walk now will only end in tragedy. I can offer you something better."**

"Like _what?!"_

" **Like the chance to meet the rest of your kind."**

He froze, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "That...isn't some kind of euphemism, right? You know, meeting them cause' you're gonna kill me?"

" **Oh no, I mean it quite literally. You are not the last of your kind, Mr. Po. Far from it."**

Before Po even had the chance to express disbelief, his bleak surroundings shifted, the blackness fading away to reveal a strange village. A village...of pandas. "No way…" Like Shen's genocide was only a bad memory, Po saw peaceful, happy pandas on every side, relaxing and playing without a care in the world. Young and old, male and female, pandas of every size and shape he could imagine. "Hey guys! Over here!"

But they didn't respond, oblivious to his presence. As he moved forward to touch one on the shoulder, his paw passed straight through him. He should've figured this was too good to be true. But as he looked around at his lost species, one of the mystery pandas stuck out to him. Dressed in a garb of green with a large sun hat on his head, he knew he had seen this particular panda before. In fact, he seemed to have a striking resemblance to… "Dad!" He found himself rushing towards the figure without thinking, even though he knew his father could neither see, hear, nor feel him. He just wanted to get closer, to be with his father again in at least _some_ capacity.

He was only a few paces away when black filled his vision again and the lost panda village became lost once more. "No! Bring them back!" he shouted into the void.

" **I can do better. I can bring** _ **you**_ **to** _ **them.**_ **A simple task for someone of my talents, Mr. Po."**

"B-But…" He glared at the inky blackness. "No. I can find them myself. Now that I know they're out there-"

" **You think Mr. Shen hasn't tried? If that paranoid fool and his army couldn't find any trace of the panda population, what makes you think** _ **you**_ **can?"**

"I'll find a way!" he insisted. "I'm the Dragon Warrior, I can at least accomplish something like that! There's gotta be a hundred universes where I already have!"

" **True. In most universes, you do indeed cross paths with the rest of your kind. Your father, Li Shan, receives a message from the departed Grandmaster Oogway, leading him to find you and bring you back."**

"Ha! You see? Then I just gotta wait for-"

" **Oh, but I'm afraid that won't happen this time. In** _ **this**_ **universe, Mr. Kai turned the Grandmaster into a piece of jewelry before he ever got the chance to send that message. Now even your father still thinks you are dead. All thanks to your buddy Shen I might add. So you see, without my help,** _ **you'll never see another panda again!"**_

He closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. "N-No! I can find them! I c-can…"

" **You can't and you know it."**

"Shut up! They're my family! Of course I can!"

" **Ah yes, and how** _ **would**_ **your 'family' feel about you befriending the man who tried to render them extinct? Who slaughtered so many of your 'family' without the slightest remorse? And I can't even imagine what they would say if they knew you had passed up the opportunity to meet them in order to save the life of their murderer."**

Po staggered across the empty room, his breathing labored. He almost tripped over a shelf, but just kept going as if there were nothing there.

" **Let's face it, this is really the only option that gets you anything but more grief, so I suggest you take it."**

Eyes still shut, he nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah. Maybe you're right…"

His fist suddenly shot out, connecting with an invisible jaw. "...where I want you!"

Yinying screamed, his good hand clamped over a bloody nose as he faded into sight. " **How?!"**

"It was pretty easy actually," he said, now grinning. "I just had to get you talking long enough to track down your voice." He grabbed the bat by his bead necklace, pulling him towards him. Yinying's darkness slowly dissipated, returning the room to natural darkness. Po still had some trouble seeing, but after _that_ experience, this was practically broad daylight.

" **You...you** _ **tricked**_ **me?!"** The demon's jaw dropped in disbelief as he stared at him. " **Even** _ **still**_ **the fire has not left your eyes! What does it take?!"**

"Look, I'd love to see my species again, more than anything," Po admitted, unable to keep the sadness out of his voice. It was a fleeting gesture, as he turned his eyes back on Yinying and glared resolutely. "But if I had to throw Shen's life away to do that, then I'd be no better than him."

" **You're insane!"**

"Nope." He pulled back his fist. "I'm the Dragon Warrior. Annnnnnnd...skadoosh!"

His fist rocketed forward into Yinying's face, sending the demon into the wall. He growled and tried to vanish into the shadows, but the physical object rammed through him prevented that. Yinying realized that too late as Po literally yanked him out of the wall and threw him into the only shelf still standing, bringing it down to the level of its peers. As Yinying pulled himself back to his feet, he saw Po charging him again and responded by forming a thick shadowy barrier around him. Po simply took to the air, coming down on top of the barrier with a body slam that even a demon couldn't block. The bat's eyes widened as his barrier cracked, then shattered under the weight, flattening Yinying under Po's girth.

Yinying groaned, laying there flat in a pile of scrolls and shelving as Po stood over him. "Need a hand?" he asked, extending a paw down towards him. Raising an eyebrow, Yinying slowly reached up towards his paw, intending to spring another attack while the naive panda was distracted.

He never got the chance. Po didn't grab his hand, only one finger. "Gotcha."

" **T-The Wuxi Finger Hold?"**

Po smirked. "Oh, so you know this hold?"

* * *

"Are you serious? The idiot panda is trying to find some magical cure to save me?" Shen asked, his voice low enough to not spread too far.

"Yes. He believes there may be something hidden in the city's old archives," Shifu replied, more than a little annoyed by Shen's ungratefulness.

He shook his head. "The fool."

"Are you sure it is the panda who is the fool?" asked the Soothsayer wryly. "After all, an uncertain path is still preferable to a dead end." She pointed upwards.

"This is not a dead end," he countered. "We'll simply blast our way out. The royal peacocks of old didn't have access to such a method." He was quite smug about that too.

"Doing that will require a lot of firepower," Shifu warned. "Enough that it will surely alert Kai and his forces from anywhere in the city."

"Which is why we need to have our plan in place before we light the fuses. _And_ why we need to bring that fat oaf back here! He is crucial to the success of my plan!"

"He is?" asked Crane. "Care to fill us in on what exactly _is_ your plan?"

Shen ignored him, brushing past the other bird and several of his own troops as he raised his lantern. "I'll go bring him back. Wait here."

"By yourself?" Shifu asked incredulously.

"I've studied these maps for months on end, knowing that one day I might have to use them for strategic purposes. I can find the library as easily as the bathrooms." Shifu attempted to follow as his lantern disappeared into the crowd, but a pair of gorillas immediately moved to block him.

"What Lord Shen says, goes." The Chief Gorilla crossed his arms and glared. "We wait here."

The Soothsayer put a reassuring hoof on Shifu's shoulder. "Don't worry about him, I doubt Shen was speaking in hyperbole. Trust me, he really _is_ that obsessive."

"You're probably right," he nodded. The Soothsayer smiled back.

Why then, did he not feel the least bit assured?

* * *

"It's over, Yinying. If the Wuxi Finger Hold worked on Tai Lung, I can only imagine what that much chi power is gonna do to _you."_ Po maintained a firm grip on Yinying's finger, ready to bring down the dreaded pinky at any second. He didn't enjoy killing, but if it came to that, he would feel little guilt over ridding the world of this cold-hearted shadow demon.

Well, _this_ world anyway. He had to keep reminding himself that there were multiple.

" **You win."**

Po blinked in surprise. "...Wait, really?"

" **As you surmised, an explosion of chi that powerful would soundly obliterate me,"** he said, resigned. " **Even the best gamblers know when to fold, Mr. Po. So you win."**

He still didn't let go. "Uh...just to make sure you're not still screwing with me...this means I get Shen's contract?"

" **That** _ **was**_ **the terms of the deal."** As much as he looked like he wanted to strangle him. " **I'm not allowed to deviate from a contract, unfortunate as that may be sometimes. Now if you don't mind…"** He titled his head towards the wooden staff still sticking out of his wing.

"Oh yeah. Right." While still a bit reluctant, Po reached down and pulled the staff out of him. He didn't bother to be gentle about it, still a little bitter about the turmoil this guy had put him and Shen through, and Yinying stifled a gasp of pain as his wing slowly healed itself. With a wave of his hand, the room lit back up again. " **Thanks. Now as promised...your reward."** He stood up and dusted himself off, then raised a hand and materialized Shen's contract just as he had before. With a small flick of the wrist, he flung it into Po's waiting paws. " **There it is. Read it over if you don't believe me."**

Squinting suspiciously, Po pulled the parchment from the black casing and scanned it. "...This looks to be the real deal," he said cautiously. "But what do you mean by this last part, about the condition if-?"

" **That's really not important right now. You're planning to destroy it anyway, yes?"**

Po looked at him pointendly. "Yes. And once I do, whatever deal you made with him goes kaput, right?"

Yinying nodded. He waved a hand towards the lantern broken during the fight, calling out its lingering flames and forming them into a small fireball that came towards Po. The panda growled, ready to put the staff through his _other_ wing, when the fireball came to a stop right in front of him. " **As your new reading material would tell you, the only way to destroy a demonic contract is to burn it. So you may 'fire' when ready, as it were."** He chuckled at his own bad joke.

Po held the contract over the hungry flames, but hesitated. This was exactly what he wanted, right? So then why did his arm not want to make that final move to burn the contract? It was like some primal instinct was forcing him to stay his hand. But why? He was just trying to save Shen. This made no sense…

" **What are you waiting for, Mr. Po?"** Yinying urged, still smiling calmly.

"...Something's up here," he said, fixing his stare on the bat demon. "Why are you just letting me do this?"

" **I told you, I can't do anything about it now. You won our little contest fair and square."**

"But you're taking this _way_ too well!" He pointed an accusing finger at him. "I would have at least expected a 'NOOOOOOOOOOO!' or 'I'll remember this!', something a defeated villain would do!"

" **What you call 'villainous', I simply call business. And in business, you don't always get what you want. I've been around long enough to understand that."** He shrugged. " **Besides, a part of me has to respect the enormity of the sacrifice you're making for your new friend. Who am I to stand in your way?"**

He nodded slowly. "Alright...I guess that makes sense. Then I'll just…" He went to burn the contract again, but stopped himself. "Wait, what do you mean sacrifice?"

Yinying frowned. " **Don't tell me...you didn't know?"** He looked at Po with something that almost resembled sympathy. " **Now that would just be** _ **terrible."**_

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

" **Well you have the contract right there. You can read it for yourself. In particular, the fourth clause of article two."**

"The what?"

He sighed. " **The one that stipulates what Mr. Shen gets out of the deal. You remember what that was, don't you?"**

That primal instinct was getting more and more restless. "Yeah...you bring him back to life and stick him here." He glared at him resolutely. "So what? I know I'm gonna undo that, but he'll be happier in whatever form he gets reincarnated as than being stuck under _your_ thumb for eternity. He's practically told me so himself!"

" **How noble, but that's not the** _ **only**_ **thing you'll undo."**

"W-What do you mean?"

Yinying's smile grew wider, crueller. " **Don't you get it? This universe, the one you live in now, is an offshoot of that deal, created as a result of that contract you now hold."**

Po's swallowed hard, staring silently at the scroll in his paw. All other sound became muffled, until all he could hear was his own heavy breathing and quickly beating heart.

" **Still don't understand? Then let me spell it out for you. If you destroy that contract, then you, your friends, and everything you've ever known and loved…"**

It was now a full-blown wicked grin, the kind that absolutely relished in pain and suffering. " _ **Will be erased from existence forever!"**_

That single statement hit him like a physical blow, one much worse than the ones he'd received so far. Po took a step back, fumbling and nearly dropping the scroll to the ground. "N-N-No way! You're lying!"

" **But it's right there in the contract, Mr. Po. It's not my fault you didn't pay enough attention. I even warned you that this path would only end in tragedy, that's why I offered you an alternative."** He chuckled darkly. " **But it's too late for that now. So go ahead and burn that scroll. After all, didn't you say you would do** _ **anything**_ **to save Mr. Shen?"**

His eyes were glued to the contract, slowly welling up with tears. "No...I-I can't…"

" **Really? That's funny, considering you've gone through so much effort for it. Just think of it as getting to know Shen a little better. Through genocide, I mean. Though technically, you won't be** _ **killing**_ **anyone. More like they never existed in the first place."**

"This...this was not…"

" **Let me guess, this is not how it was supposed to happen? I'm getting really** **tired of that phrase!"**

Yinying raised one arm into the air. At his command, the purple flames lighting the room flew from their torches one by one, each of them ramming into Po, who made no effort to dodge them. With no further resistance, the dark essence filled Po and rotted him from the inside out. As the last of the flames disappeared into him, the contract that caused all this fell from his paws and rolled across the floor. The panda made a slight move to reach for it, but instead fell himself, collapsing onto his knees.

" **You thought you were so** _ **clever,**_ **didn't you? The way you got the better of me again and again? When in reality, you lost this battle before it even started! I don't know what's more amusing: your stupidity, or the fact that you actually thought you could outsmart a demon."** Yinying walked slowly towards him, not bothering to hurry. Po didn't even react.

" **Do you want to know why I even wasted my time with this? Because I'm sick of ignorant, idealistic morons trying to get in my way, and I just wanted to** _**break you."**_ He roughly grabbed Po by the back of his head and leaned down until he was staring him right in the face. " **That fire in your eyes...I do believe it's been extinguished."**

Po did not respond. Yinying roughly threw him back, letting him fall to the ground, both scrolls he won laying at his sides. " **Keep the contract. It's as safe as it can be with you."**

"What is going on here?!"

The bat's head turned to the new voice, though Po's did not. " **Ah, Mr. Shen. Perfect timing."**

Shen looked at the panda, who seemed practically comatose, and then back at Yinying, brandishing his guandao. "What did you do to him?"

" **Nothing he didn't ask for."** Yinying stared hard at the peacock, inspecting him in a way comparable to a predator and a piece of meat. Even he had to fight down his revulsion when the demon's tongue, far too long for comfort, slowly slid across his lips.

" **See you soon."**

Yinying extended his wings and took to the air, plunging the room back into darkness and leaving the two of them alone as his mocking laughter faded into the shadows. For a moment, Shen couldn't hear anything at all. Then one sound emerged over the nothingness: the quiet sobs of the panda. It was disconcerting to say the least. Even if his annoying idealism got on his nerves, it was still preferable to _this._ "Panda?"

He got no response.

"Can you hear me, panda?"

Still nothing.

"Po, say something already!"

And say something he did, but it was something he never expected to hear.

"I'm sorry, Shen...I can't save you. It's over…"

* * *

 _Oh, all you people who thought this was going to be the endgame, how I enjoy toying with you. I know this whole chapter was an emotional rollercoaster, that ended much like the one in Final Destination 3, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Po vs. Yinying was definitely fun to write, one of the most fun fight scenes I've ever written really. To give credit where credit is due, Yinying's attacks literally attacking Po's soul was an idea suggested by my new coauthor, Mind Jack (so I guess I should revert to the 'we' pronouns again)._

 _For those who haven't noticed, the phrase "This is not how it was supposed to happen", and variations thereof, has been popping up in numerous places throughout the story, spoken by many different characters. (Hell, it was used twice in the very first chapter!) Perhaps I should have picked something that rolls of the tongue easier for my big arc words, but too late now._

 _That aside, I bet you're looking forward to what's next to come because, hey, it can't possibly get any worse right? :P_


	21. Loophole

_It's been a long time coming, but I'm happy to announce that we're getting pretty close to the end on this bad boy. I estimate around 25 chapters total. So from this point on, it's going to be almost all action, all the time. But first we gotta GET to the action, so buckle in!_

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Loophole**

Shen wasn't sure how to react. On one level, it was a relief that the panda had finally ceased his useless idealist streak. On another, the fact that even the most optimistic person he knew had given up on him drained away what little hope he had left of getting out of this mess. He shook his lantern, slowly lighting up the room again, if just a little. He could see the panda now, hugging his knees and staring pitifully at the ground. "Oh, this is pathetic! What's gotten into you?!"

"I can't break your deal, Shen," Po sighed, his breath hitching. "That was the only plan I had."

A stinging slap across the face kept him from saying anything more. "Listen here, panda! I didn't come all the way down here just to hear you spouting this nonsense! Now what do you mean by-? "

His eyes wandered down to the scroll laying at his feet. "Is...is that my contract?" A distinct throbbing in the back of his mind answered that question for him. Just looking at the thing gave him such a sense of unease that he didn't even want to touch it. But he knew he had to. It was the key to finding the answers he so desperately sought and he would be a fool to ignore it. "Yes, perfect! With this, I can finally find out what Yinying's been hiding from me!"

"More than you think," Po muttered as Shen picked up the demonic parchment in his wings and opened it.

He almost immediately dropped it again, letting out a gasp and putting a wing to his head. He didn't even need to read it. The second his eyes scanned the words in front of him, it was like an invisible veil had been lifted off of him, a mental floodgate finally opened as his lost memories surged forth. No, he didn't need to read it, because he already knew what it said.

"I remember…" he said, a genuine smile finally coming to his beak again. "I remember everything!"

" _Alright then...what would I have to do?" Shen asked suspiciously. Being able to redeem himself after all he had done? To find peace? What utter nonsense. This deal sounded more and more like a waste of time by the second. Unfortunately, time was all he had right now._

 _And Yinying knew it too._ " **It's more simple than you think. Tell me, what would be the quickest way of proving that you're not so bad?"**

" _You tell me." He refused to play these games with him._

" **By pitting you against someone even worse,"** _Yinying answered, undeterred._

" _Like who?" Shen asked, a somewhat narcissistic part of him refusing to believe there WAS someone worse._

" _ **Have you ever heard of Kai the Collector?"**_

" _No."_

" **Good. That should be enough to make him want to kill you too."**

 _Before Shen could ask for clarification, the void of nothingness in front of him suddenly coalesced into a singular form, that of an eerily smiling bat. One holding out a piece of parchment._ " _ **Here. I took the liberty of writing up a contract, Mr. Shen. Feel free to read it over."**_

" _Gladly." Like Here he was going to let this demon play around with his afterlife without at least reading the terms. He tried to ignore the way Yinying's cold eyes stared at him as he focused on the contract. "Three days? That's how long I have to kill this Kai?"_

" **Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time."**

" _I'm more concerned about the part where you get my soul if I fail," Shen glared at him. "My soul and 'the body it resides in', according to this. What does that even mean?"_

 _Yinying raised an eyebrow._ " **You didn't think you were getting this deal for free, did you? Selling your soul to a demonic figure is a bit cliche I admit, but it makes for good business. At least I'm giving you an out."**

" _I know that! But how do I know you're not just going to stack this foe against me so I can't win? Or put him on the other side of the world where I can't even get to him?"_

" **Article six, third paragraph."**

 _Shen turned to the relevant section. "The contractor is forbidden from interfering in the client's battle, or otherwise aiding his opponent. In addition, he is required to ensure that both parties will have sufficient contact to settle the matter." He frowned. "Alright, fine. And once I DO win, that's the end of it? You leave me to pick up the scattered pieces of my life?"_

" **Article three, fifth paragraph."**

" _I already read that part!"_

" **Then what are you asking** _ **me**_ **for?"**

 _This would normally be the point when knives got flung, but right now, this guy was his only chance at a second chance. He reread that section anyway, just to make sure, and moved on once he was satisfied. He wasn't going to rush this, no matter how much he wanted it to be over and done with. He knew the stories of how demons operated and he wasn't about to be caught unawares. There had to be a catch somewhere..._

" _Wait a minute!" Shen held the parchment closer, as if unable to comprehend what he was reading. "Once the deal is made, the client will lose all memory of it?! Are you serious?!"_

" **But of course. How is it redemption if you're only doing it to save yourself?"** _He shook his head rather condescendingly._ " **No, this has to be genuine. You can't remember any of this happening, or even the fact that you've already died. I will send you back before your downfall and then you'll try this all again from scratch."**

 _Shen stiffened as the demon suddenly appeared right in front of him._ " **But this time, there will be far more at stake than merely subjugating a country. Your life, and your afterlife, will be put on the line. So let me ask you, Mr. Shen, are you ready to make the deal?"**

 _Bastard. He lifted the scroll up in front of him, deliberately blocking Yinying from view as he scanned it again and again. Try as he might, he could find nothing else to object to. This was pretty damn reasonable under the circumstances. It didn't matter who this "Kai the Collector" was, he had no doubt that he could take him. The memory loss was sketchy, but he couldn't argue the reasoning behind it, nor would it impair his ability to fight. Even in the worst case scenario, he would just be losing his soul to Yinying instead of whatever horrors awaited him down in the Underworld._

 _But the fact that nothing else bothered him was exactly what bothered him so much. He'd heard about these kinds of deals and they were supposed to be far more costly than this. What was he playing at? Could his soul really be that valuable or was there something else at stake here? It unnerved Shen to no end that he didn't have the slightest idea, but he knew he wouldn't be getting an answer._

 _He pulled the scroll down to find Yinying still there, still just staring at him._

" _Okay, fine! Just give me the stupid pen!"_

Shen slowly shook his head, still trying to process the sudden flow of information. "That...that was it? That can't be it!" But his overtaxed brain insisted that it was, the mental block Yinying had placed completely evaporated. But why would he go through so much effort to hide this? All he had to do was kill Kai and he would be free? That's exactly what he was trying to do anyway; there was no point in keeping it secret. This made no sense at all.

Even so, at least now he had hope. "Very well then. If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he'll get. Tonight, Kai dies by my blade." _That_ at least, he knew he could handle.

A small sigh caught his attention. It seemed the panda hadn't gotten the memo. "Are you _still_ moping? Look!" He picked up the scroll again and practically forced it in front of his face. "I don't have to _break_ the deal, I just have to fulfill it. If we win this war tonight, I will be safe."

"Will you?" he asked numbly, not even seeming to register the paper hanging there. "After all we've been through, you think it's gonna be that easy? Kai is crazy strong and Yinying has all sorts of tricks up his shadowy sleeves. I'm not sure we can even wi-"

Shen slapped him again. "Next time I use the lantern! You're supposed to be the Dragon Warrior, right? So get out of this funk and start acting like it!" He didn't know why he was bothering to try to cheer the panda up. The fat lump had only been a nuisance, not to mention a member of the species destined to defeat him.

No, he wasn't anymore. With Shen's restored memories came the revelation that he no longer cared about ruling China. He knew now that what he truly desired in the end was peace, and this panda was his best chance at it. If he were a bit more honest with himself, he could even call him a friend, one of the very few he had.

Lost in this sudden epiphany, he didn't notice a knowing smile return to Po's face. "You really have changed, haven't you?" Before he could answer, likely with a sharp denial, Po placed a large paw on his shoulder. "I'm not one for this whole killing thing, but it looks like we don't have a choice. If this is what needs to be done to get you that second chance, then I'm game."

Good enough for him. Shen nodded in satisfaction, shrugging off the panda paw and walking away. He had gotten too sentimental already. "Then let's get back to the army. It's time to finish this."

* * *

"First, I'm gonna take the chi of all those Jade Palace upstarts. Then I'll let the jombies take out Shen's boys, probably use the wolves just to rub it in a bit more." Kai dragged his blades across the ground, followed by Tai Lung and a contingent of his best soldiers as he walked slowly down the street. "And after that, I think I'll take that bird's chi niiiiiiiice and slow, gonna make him _feel_ it."

" **Hello, Mr. Kai."**

"Hey, Yinying." He did a double-take, turning around to see the bat demon standing behind him once more. "Aw, dammit. I thought you were gone."

" **Apologies, but I'm afraid your literal shadow does not take a vacation,"** he chuckled. " **I merely had a loose end that needed to be tied up. What about you? I see you're still** **standing around just waiting for something to happen."**

A blade soared at him, which Yinying swiftly sidestepped. "Hey, screw you! Believe it or not, I've got a plan here!"

" **If you say so. Though I would urge you to remember what's at stake here."**

He huffed, turning away. "Yeah. How could I ever forget?"

" _So what the heck kind of 'deal' are you talking about here?" Kai crossed his arms, putting on a suspicious frown as the source of the mysterious voice materialized on a floating rock in front of him. To think he was actually intimidated by this scrawny bat, what a joke!_

" **It's as I said. I will help you find the Grandmaster, Mr. Kai. And then you will be free to run rampant across the Mortal Realm as you see fit."**

" _Yeah, that all sounds well and good, but there's no way it's that easy," Kai said, rolling his green eyes. "Not even mortals would offer something like that, let alone a demon. You called this a deal, right? So what are you expecting in return?"_

" **I don't need** _ **anything**_ **in return, at least for the time being."**

" _The hell does that mean?"_

" **See for yourself."** _Yinying put his hands together, the shadows taking the shape of a parchment in between them. The bat took the newly-created contract, looked it over once to make sure it was satisfactory, and then signed it before handing the contract over to Kai._

 _The yak grunted, forcing himself to read over the contract carefully, not willing to let himself get played. At least this was more interesting than just hanging around skipping stones in the Spirit Realm. The dumb things always just floated away. "By signing this agreement, the client consents to all terms and conditions, blah blah blah…" He was bored already. "...issued by the contractor and relevant to the deal at hand, yadda yadda…" He continued on like this for a while. "So I'm not allowed to tell anyone about this? Fine by me, I'd rather not deal with the heckling if people found out that the great Maker of Widows had to get assistance from the Dork Lord."_

" **You are satisfied with the terms, then?"**

" _Yeah...I guess. Though there's this one part here: 'In order to ensure this investment satisfies both parties, a trial period chosen by the contractor will be put in place, which will grant him all of the client's assets should he fail to live up to the agreement'.What's that all about?"_

" **Oh, nothing major. It's just a bit of insurance so I know this isn't a complete waste of my time. Should you squander this opportunity and actually manage to** _ **die**_ **within the trial period... let's say three days, I get everything you own in exchange."**

" _Is that all?" he scoffed. "After all this time, I don't own a thing anymore! Just…" His eyes widened in realization as he stared down at his belt. "So that's what you're after. You want my collection."_

" **It's not such a great loss, is it? Just a few...hundred...pure, succulent souls…"** _He laughed to himself, struggling to maintain composure. He shook his head roughly and finally managed it, returning to his professional demeanor._ " **But if you're as powerful as you claim, I doubt that will be a problem. Isn't that right, Mr. Kai?"**

" _Damn straight!" he said proudly, shedding his doubts in an instant. "I'm not even sure I CAN die! And according to this contract, you can't interfere unless I break your stupid rules. All in exchange for freedom and total dominion of the world! Hate to say it, but I think you've made a poor bargain here, batty."_

" **Perhaps. But I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. So…"** _He flicked his hand, making a pen fly into Kai's open hoof._ " **Are you ready to sign?"**

" _Bring it on."_

"And I still think your deal is full of crap," Kai said smugly as he clenched his fist, the green glow emanating from it almost blinding. "I know you set this all up somehow, but it doesn't matter. With this much chi in my clutches, I've got this war in the bag. You're just gonna have to sit back and watch as your stupid little plan turns to dust." He looked back to mock Yinying further, but the demon had already retired into his shadow. "Fine, be that way. Spoilsport."

* * *

Several dozen heads turned as Shen and Po returned to the endpoint. "Lord Shen!" the Chief Gorilla saluted, his old nanny smiling softly at his arrival while the wolves cheered.

"Po!" Crane and Mantis were quick to tackle-glomp the panda, Mantis hopping on his head gleefully while Crane wrapped him up in a feathery hug. Po smiled as he struggled to fend them off, despite a noticeable drop in enthusiasm that didn't go unnoticed.

Master Shifu only gave him an approving nod, noting the pair of scrolls hanging out of his waistband. "I see your mission was successful."

"Yeah...sorta…" he said, looking away. "I found a scroll on demonic contracts back there. Thought it could help."

"What's the other one?" asked Crane.

Po chuckled nervously. "Oh...it's, well..you know...Shen's contract."

"Excuse me?" Shifu stepped forward, examining the dark parchment more closely. "You were able to get that away from Yinying?"

"...In a sense…"

Mantis hopped onto his waistband, putting his pincers around the casing. "Well if you've got this, then you can already save Shen. Let's just burn it up and-"

"NO!" Po's paw flew up and smacked the bug off of him in a heartbeat. "That's not a good idea, just trust me on that." There was a surprising amount of pressure in holding the literal essence of the universe in his pocket.

"Okaaaaaaaay…" Mantis rubbed at his sore exoskeleton as he pried himself off the floor. "Do you know you're acting seriously weird? Like, weirder than usual?"

He tried hard not to look at him. "What? No, it's totally the standard level of weirdness..."

"So what _is_ the plan, then?" asked Crane.

Po took a deep breath, still calming himself down. "We're going to go fight Kai and Shen has to be the one to kill him. We think that might free him from the contract."

"So the same thing we've _been_ doing?"

"Look, it's a complicated issue, okay?" Po pinched his brow. "I'm not happy about it either, but it's better than whatever Yinying has planned for him if we don't."

"I suppose so," Shifu admitted. "If it's our only option left, then we'll try to clear a way for Shen to face Kai." He rested a paw on Po's leg. "I know you've gone through great lengths to help him, but it seems this is a battle Shen will have to finish on his own."

"I guess…"

"But there is still a way you can help." The panda's head shot towards him instantly, desperately seeking encouragement. "That scroll you're carrying."

"I told you, we can't do anything with-"

"Not the contract, the other scroll."

"Oh, this?" Po idly pulled out "Demonic Contracts for Dummies". For all the trouble he had gone through searching for this thing, it almost seemed useless now. "What could this tell us that we don't already know?"

"That's up to you to find out," Shifu said, nudging the scroll towards him. "But read quickly. I believe we'll be otherwise occupied very soon."

"READY THE CANNONS!" Shen shouted, his voice echoing through the small chamber. The tension in the air increased dramatically in that one moment.

"Okay, okay, reading!" Po wasted no more time in pulling the thing open and glossing quickly through it.

"Tonight, we take back Gongmen City!" Shen spoke, rallying his troops through the force of his voice alone. "We will free our lost brethren and teach Kai a lesson never to mess with us, our city, OR our empire again! NOW BATTLE STATIONS, EVERYONE!"

The peacock smiled triumphantly, looking up at the ceiling as he and his troops backed away from the center of the room, the area where several cannons were already primed to blast their way out.

Shifu winced. "Actually, Po, I'm not sure we have any more time at all."

Po looked up from the scroll, blinking slowly. "Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. What did you-?"

Several explosions went off at once.

* * *

Kai heard the sound immediately. The tremendous boom came from about halfway across the city now, but no great distance for him or his troops. "Finally. It's go time!" His eyes glowed bright. Across Gongmen City, every jombie soldier lying in wait turned in the same direction, eyes aglow and weapons brandished. With one single command, they all rushed towards the source.

From the massive crater where Gongmen Jail once stood came a chorus of furious howls and simian roars as Shen's army emerged. Kai rushed to the edge of the crater, his eyes scanning the crowd. No matter how many worms challenged him this day, there was only one he was truly interested in. Like a familiar itch, it didn't take long to find him either. The second he locked eyes with Lord Shen, they both knew the battle was on.

Po looked back and forth between the two villains, then to Shifu, having already fallen into his stance. He wordlessly pulled the wooden staff from the back of his pants and handed it to him.

Kai grinned and pointed a glowing finger at the assembled fighters. "CHARGE!"

Shen swung his guandao around in an arc and pointed it right back at him. "TAKE THEM DOWN!"

The two armies collided. The final battle for the city, and the future of both commanders, had begun.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them, their battle was being closely observed. As weapons clashed and the sounds of war filled the air, the shadowy figure that stood on the rooftops above them went completely unnoticed, reflected only by the light of the full moon behind him. The moment of truth was finally upon them and Hei Yinying could only smile as he watched their every move. It was only a matter of time now until this conflict was settled for good, one way or another. Unfortunately for them, the outcome mattered very little to him. Such was the result of his careful planning.

Demons like him were always bound by rules to keep them from growing too powerful, which was why they could not simply take mortal souls, their main source of sustenance, but were forced to bargain for them. So it was only natural that his kind was known for being scheming tricksters out to screw over any mortal they could find in pursuit of more power. Their superiors didn't mind, for no demon could ever hope to amass enough souls to shift the balance of power in the Underworld.

Not until now.

Yinying had found a loophole, and his name was Kai the Collector. He was a being so unusual that none of his peers could even fathom the concept of a mortal able to collect souls, and he WAS still a mortal to them despite his claims to the contrary. Not only had he gotten ahold of so many souls, but they were divine souls, the souls of legendary kung fu masters. Nothing could provide more power to a hungry demon. And nothing could convince the yak to part with them either, or so most of his kind would assume and dismiss the idea as a silly pipe dream.

But by choosing two mortals whose paths would inevitably collide, and writing their contracts in a _very_ specific way...well, he had arranged to get just that. His superiors would never see it coming, and neither would any of those fools killing each other down there. Soon, the Underworld was going to operate under a new set of rules. _His_ rules.

" **Shen and Kai...two sides of the same coin. But no matter which side the coin lands on…"**

Yinying's face twisted into a cruel smirk.

" _ **I win."**_

* * *

 _That enough buildup for you? Part of the reason this chapter took so long is that Jack and I had a heck of a time figuring out the exact terms of Yinying's deals to most effectively screw these two baddies over while considering pretty much every outcome. Law is a tricky field, people. Lots of thanks to Jack especially, a prospective law student, for helping me get my shit together. If you don't quite understand how Yinying's gambit here works, we recommend you take a careful look at the wording of each contract._

 _Yes, the final battle is upon us now, and with everyone's stake in this clear and Yinying's true plot finally revealed, it's going to be quite the ride. I hope you guys have the patience to wait for it, especially after such a short chapter, but now that I've made some alterations to my RL situation to allow for more writing time, it should hopefully come soon-ish. :)_


	22. The Battle Begins

_Time for the climax to begin, guys! Hope you're excited for it, I say redundantly because you've been going absolutely ballistic over it._

 _Not going to keep you waiting any longer then, let's jump right in!_

* * *

 **Chapter 22: The Battle Begins**

It didn't take long at all for chaos to engulf the city, any poor civilians who hadn't already fled for their lives now cowering indoors. Most of them didn't even care who won this war; at this rate, they'd settle for still having a city to live in when it was all over.

Not that those on the frontlines were faring much better. Fur met jade as the two armies clashed, this time on relatively even ground. The jombies still held the advantage in defense and stamina, but Shen's combined forces could easily outsmart them, and they never did get any less vulnerable to cannon fire. Kai couldn't well micromanage the horde under these circumstances, creating a powerful force, but not a very organized one.

The Chief Gorilla charged in, immediately attracting the attention of the jade wolf pack as he threw them aside left and right. Several came at him from both sides in an attempt at a pincer maneuver, but only one of those sides made it as the other was promptly blown away by a cannonball. The simian didn't even turn to look at the shattered lupines, just smirked and threw himself at the remaining group. It was to his great pleasure that the Wolf Boss was a part of this one. The two of them had never gotten along. "You boys have always had strength in numbers, but we'll settle for just plain _strength!"_ Throwing the remaining flunkies off of him, he raised his fist and slammed it straight into the center of the alpha wolf's hammer, shoving him back. "You alright up there, Granny?"

"Just fine," she replied, starting to get used to these rides.

"You boys remember the plan, yes?" Shen asked, coming up alongside them.

"For the last time, _yes!"_ The Wolf Boss lunged at Shen, but the simian quickly pulled him into a chokehold.

"Good. Then I must be off. I'm going yak hunting." He tried to leave it at that, he really did, but as soon as he caught sight of their faces again, the realization that this may be the last time he ever saw them proved too much. "Soothsayer?"

"Yes, Shen?"

"I'm only saying this because I may never get another chance, but...thank you." He forced himself to look at her. "Thank you for putting up with me all these years. I know I haven't made it easy."

"No, you have not," she agreed, smiling warmly back at him. How much of her inner burden had he lifted through those words? Shen hoped it was enough. She, at least, deserved a happy ending.

"Woah woah, what's with this all of a sudden?" asked the Chief Gorilla. "We've gone to war plenty of times without you going all sappy on us."

He had to remind himself not to spoil the moment. "And thank you too, for leading my troops in all of those battles, even if I could do without that tongue of yours." He glanced down at the wolf still struggling in his arms. "Tell him I extend that same sentiment to him when he gets better."

"Sure, but he probably won't believe me." The ape could hardly believe it himself.

"Probably not. I suppose that does it then. Good luck." Now he had to force himself to look _away_ lest he lose his resolve.

With a simple wave of his wing, Lord Shen headed towards his destiny.

* * *

"Looks like the battle's really spreading," Mantis noted, still perched atop Crane's hat as they surveyed the scene down below. Indeed, what had started near the middle of the city was expanding rapidly outward, at too fast of a rate to be natural. It seemed to be a deliberate move on the part of Shen's army, probably part of that big plan he'd never bothered to tell them about. "And is it just me, or are there a lot of new faces here?"

"Kai's been busy alright," the bird said grimly. "Can't say I recognize most of these guys though."

"I bet I know _someone_ who does." Mantis peeked over the hat's rim, shouting down at the ground. "Hey, Po! Who are all these new guys?!"

"Kinda busy right now!" Po yelled back, an unfurled scroll in front of his face as he dodged back and forth around the two-headed spade of Master Hippo, Shaolin monk and adept gardner. Unfortunately, Demonic Contracts for Dummies was quite the doorstopper and couldn't be afforded more than a quick skim, but it did make a big enough weapon to bash Hippo over the head with.

"Are you seriously reading that thing _now?!"_

"Well yeah, when _else_ am I gonna read it?!" He may have missed the point completely, but he also missed the point of Master Croc's barbed tail as it swung past his head. He quickly closed the scroll and stuffed its casing into Croc's mouth, then yanked it towards him, kneeing the reptilian under the chin and letting him fall back against the ground. He pried the scroll back out and opened it again. "Great, now I lost my place."

"I guess he's still doing more than us right now," Mantis conceded. "I think we've done enough scouting, so let's get in the fight."

Crane looked up and his eyes widened. "Actually...I think the fight just came to us." Mantis didn't get to ask for clarification before his ride abruptly dove sharply down, barely avoiding the sharp talons of a smaller, yet fiercer bird as it soared overhead, letting out a screeching cry.

Actually, it was more of a bawk.

Sitting atop a pinned Master Croc, Po tore his eyes away from the scroll as he heard the sound. "Woah, you guys get to fight Master Chicken?! Awesome!" Croc's tail lashed up and was caught inches from his head. "Yeah, you're right. I gotta keep reading." Po's eyes scanned the parchment furiously. "Okay...so demons make deals for souls...grow more powerful depending on the purity of each...come on, tell me something good!"

The panda was struck in the stomach, a blow powerful enough to get through his natural padding and launch him off of Croc as he quickly regained his footing. The culprit was a stout amphibian in a gi and a topknot, shooting him a sharp glare. "Master Frog?! The Web-footed Wonder?! Master of the Musical Mayhem attack?!" He paused, quirking his head at the smaller master. "Don't suppose you'd mind showing me that, by the way? Never actually found out what it is."

He didn't, but he did show him his famous leaping strike, which Po quickly blocked by using the scroll casing as a shield. "Wow. Guess knowledge really _is_ power." He grabbed Croc by the tail, swung him into Frog, and sent them both through a window before he went back to reading. "Okay, so Yinying is after fresh, juicy soul power. Got it. Now what does that have to do with Shen? And more importantly, how can I stop him? Hey, can whoever's making that buzzing sound please quiet down?"

He found the parchment suddenly obscured as a small, jade insect landed on it, staring at him. "...Hi."

Po leapt away as several more tried to swarm him. "The Flying Scarab Students of Saoming! And their Pestilence of Pain maneuver!" He dodged left and right as the scarabs flew at him, several clinging on and biting him while he batted them away with paws and parchment. But he was finally overwhelmed and covered by the swarm, practically looking like a jombie himself with this new, green coating.

"You are not going to keep me from my required reading!" Spinning violently like a miniature vortex, the scarabs were flung off of Po and into several more jombies closing in from each side. "So there," he said shortly, looking back down at the now damaged scroll. "Now look what you guys did! I can barely read the part about...chi?" He looked closer, making sure that he was really reading that right. Could be a smudged character.

No, that definitely said chi. Chi, the essence of life and a critical component in a person's...soul. He didn't need to read anything more to make the connection. "Oh boy."

"Incoming!" Po stepped to the side, letting a poultry-shaped projectile divebomb into the ground and shatter, jade feathers flying everywhere. Crane flew down next to him, panting with exertion. "That guy is _way_ scarier than he looks. Almost can't believe I won that."

Mantis leaned over the hat to face him. "To be fair, that wasn't actually Chicken, just a soulless copy of him."

"Exactly!" Po shouted eagerly.

This got both Mantis and Crane to stare at him. "Wait, what?" the bug asked.

"Okay, it's like this...hold on a sec." Po abruptly turned around on the spot and blocked a double-kick from some kind of jombie bunny. No, a hare actually. She struck out at him with both ears, which he caught, then punted her over the nearest rooftop. "Huh. Not sure I recognize that one.

Just as abruptly, he spun back around. "Okay, it's like this. Chi is a part of the soul, but when Kai jombifies someone, they only come out as this empty husk that obeys his every whim, right? So they get all that life juice from their chi, but then where does the rest of them end up?" The two looked at each other, not understanding the question, let alone the answer. "The thoughts, memories, that person's _being_ must stay with Kai or else they'd just be straight up dead. So that makes Kai like a big melting pot of stored souls just waiting to be used!"

"Let me stop you right there," Mantis said, pincers rubbing against skull. "Glad to see all that reading's been doing you some good, but what exactly is your point?"

"Don't you see? _That's_ what Yinying is after! If he can get his creepy claws on the souls of hundreds of noble kung fu masters…" Po shuddered, images of the world shrouded in darkness, demon spawn running amuck through the streets, and similar cliches passing through his head. "Let's just say winning this war is going to be the least of our problems."

"Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?" Crane reasoned. "If Kai really _can_ give Yinying that kind of power, do you really think he'd ever agree to it?"

"If it's his cost for losing, he might. Guy like him doesn't seem the type to care if the whole world goes down with him." Po found himself getting uncomfortably comfortable discussing apocalyptic scenarios as of late. "Which would make us winning a problem in itself…"

"Then what if Shen loses?" Mantis countered. "Yinying hasn't exactly been helping him out here."

"No idea." Po sighed in frustration. "Shen and I both looked over his contract and it seemed pretty clean, as far as Faustian deals go anyway. If only we could get ahold of Kai's contract too, but I highly doubt Yinying is going to agree to _another_ death match over it."

"Implying that you'd be willing to challenge him to another death match?"

"You need more practice!" they heard. But it wasn't directed at them. Across the street, amidst several wrecked buildings and jombies, Master Shifu was facing off with the rest of his students. It was going about as well as their training sessions, the diminutive master flinging Tigress, Monkey, and Viper around like ragdolls. With a powerful shockwave, he flung them all back, and only then did he notice his audience. "What are you all just standing around for?! Get in there and fight!"

"Just a sec, come look at this," Po said quickly, rushing over and plowing Tigress aside in the process.

Shifu was about to scold him before he decided to acknowledge his rapidly pointing finger on the scroll and unintelligible explanations. "...I see. If this is really what Yinying wants, things are even more dire than I thought. But what can we do?"

"Actually," Po grinned, shifting his stance to step on Viper before she could strike, "I think I just got an idea. And it's gonna require that staff of yours." He threw his fist back and knocked down Monkey.

Shifu didn't even blink. "Please tell me I can hold onto it this time."

* * *

"FOUND YOU!" Lord Shen rolled to the side as a pair of blades soared right through where his head had just been.

"It's not like I was trying to _hide!"_ Shen shot back, guandao already brandished and ready for just this moment.

Kai snickered, bringing his blades back to his side with no great rush to throw them again. He too had been waiting for this and he wanted to savor it. "You should have been. Because you sure don't have anywhere to run now."

The peacock smirked. "Who's running?"

For just a second, Kai felt a twinge of uncertainty, as he had come to associate that tone with another trap being thrust onto him. He then spent another two seconds berating himself for his hesitation.

Unfortunately for him, those three seconds were all the non-jombiefied wolves needed to get into position and lunge. "Not this time!" He reached for his belt and threw out a trio of jaded masters to contend with them. That opened him up for a sudden assault of gorillas from the other side, which he countered with another group of jombies. As soon as he was done with them, a cannon fired at him from the rooftop and he tossed out one more batch to block the weapon, than a few more to disable it. "I'm onto all of your tricks now, Shen!"

He didn't exactly look concerned. "Indeed. But perhaps that is to your undoing." He casually threw out a trio of knives in his direction.

Kai was quick to sidestep the attack...but not as quick as he expected. "What the…?" He reached down to his belt to check how much extra chi he still had on hand, still planning to save some just in case. That plan went out the window instantly, as he now found his belt completely empty. The only amulet he still had left was Oogway's, and that one he would never use again, especially not now. Gritting his teeth, he immediately readied himself for another ambush.

"Don't worry, no one else is coming in to help," Shen smugly reassured him. "Thanks to my careful planning, our individual troops are spread out all over the city, and now your contingency is gone as well. Call any back and my army overwhelms you, keep your focus on restoring those you've lost or you will only lose more, which leaves you to fight me at your very weakest. Aside from Oogway, of course."

"So that's your plan," he growled, choosing to ignore the implication that he still needed Oogway, which he didn't! Instead, his anger faded away, and he found himself laughing instead. "So be it! You want a fair fight so badly, then bring it on!"

* * *

" **Such a lovely show,"** Yinying purred, watching all of this unfold from afar. " **Almost a shame it's going to end so soon. It's been fun, boys."**

"Yinying!"

He didn't even turn to acknowledge the new presence behind him. " **Grandmaster Shifu, always a pleasure. Here to watch the fireworks too? I do wonder who will win…"**

"Not that it makes a difference to _you_ , right?" Shifu asked, clutching his staff. "You win a boatload of souls either way."

Now Yinying did turn, though not being able to see his feet didn't make it clear how exactly. " **...I won't insult your intelligence denying it. You've learned much in such a short span of time."**

So Po was right. Shifu hadn't doubted him, but the confirmation that this was so much larger than even a _war_ was a lot to take in.

" **But if you have figured out that much, then I'm sure you also realize there is nothing you can about it."** Yinying took no small amount of pride in saying that as he opened his palm and an hourglass materialized within it. Its black sands fell slowly to the bottom, but not slowly enough. " **In less than an hour, either Mr. Shen or Mr. Kai will fall in battle, and with** _ **their**_ **fall will come** _ **my**_ **rise."**

"And what should happen if neither fall before all those sands do?"

" **I think you know the answer to that,"** the bat demon said, watching the sands closely. " **Mr. Shen's eternal soul will belong to me. Not much of a prize by itself, but I bet Mr. Kai would think otherwise. And if he were to, say, attempt to steal Shen's soul before I can, I may not be able to stop him…"**

Shifu may not have known what he meant, but that level of confidence was enough to tell him that running out the clock wasn't a surefire option, even _if_ he could live with sacrificing Shen. "You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

" **Of course. It isn't every day one has the opportunity to achieve omnipotent power. And to think, I had to wait only three."**

"All of this bureaucratic nonsense, and in the end, you're just another power-hungry demon," Shifu spat. "I'm disappointed."

" **That makes two of us."** The hourglass vanished as he shook his head. " **When I went through all the effort to set this up, I thought that getting all of these moving parts in the right place would be a challenge. But** _ **you?**_ **You've practically handed me the title 'Central Evil Overlord' on a silver, blood-stained platter. You're out of time, out of options, and out of** _ **hope.**_ "

Not yet they weren't. There was still one more way he knew he could stop him. In a split-second, Shifu closed the distance between them and stabbed the staff up into his chest. A split-second earlier, Yinying summoned his scythe and blocked him. " **So you intend to kill me? You mortals are so predictable. As soon as it becomes clear you can't win my game, you flip the table."**

It was downright cathartic for Shifu to respond, just as smugly, "Not kill you, just distract you."

Rendered solid by his indirect contact with the staff, Yinying only noticed the second presence in his robes when it was too late. From between the gap in his wings, out flew Master Mantis, a scroll clutched tightly in his small arms. "Ugh! It is _seriously_ creepy in there!"

Yinying hissed, raising his free hand and immediately launching a dark fireball at him. Mantis would have been struck had Crane not swooped by and snatched him up. "You're pretty predictable yourself," Shifu remarked.

The demon glared down at him, and for a second, Shifu saw his appearance change, eyes turning to slits as his fangs elongated. He blinked, and Yinying was back to normal, albeit thoroughly ticked off. " **I hope you realize this qualifies as interfering with a deal. So excuse me while I go kill your students."** Throwing Shifu back with a burst of fire, Yinying spread his wings and took to the air.

Never before had Shifu desired the ability to fly as much as he did now. "...They should be able to keep Yinying busy for a while. I hope you know what you're doing, Po."

With some effort, the panda scrambled up onto the roof behind him. "Me too."

* * *

"You know what I'm gonna do once you're out of the way, Shen?" the yak smiled, dodging under another swung from the guandao and slashing back at him with his blades. "I think I'll just blow up this whole damn city for kicks. To be honest, I'm getting kinda tired of looking at it."

"Do you always destroy things as soon as you get tired of them?" Shen countered, also countering his attack with a dodge and stab that grazed the yak's side. "How petty."

Kai blocked another stab, laughing. "How's the view from that glass house, Mr. 'I hate pandas'? Something else you stole from me, by the way." He swung both chains in a wide arc, flying over Shen's head and into a building behind him.

"First come, first serve." Shen swiftly attached a rope dart to one of Kai's horns, both pulling himself out of the way of the collapsing rubble and letting him land another kick to the yak's face. "Besides, I'm over that now. My opinion of the last remaining panda is conflicted, but certainly higher than it used to be."

"Good for you," Kai smiled,rubbing a hoof across his cheek. "I'll be sure to stick you next to your new BFF in my collection." Roaring loudly, he lunged forward and brought both blades down on Shen's head.

The peacock hissed as he swiftly blocked the attack, though not without difficulty. Even weakened as he was, Kai's strength was nothing to sneeze at. But he finally managed to push him back just a bit, so that they were once again locked into a stalemate.

This one didn't have a winner though, thanks to Po suddenly nailing them both in the face with a flying double-kick.

Both combatants were thrown back a bit, then skidded to a stop as they glared back at him. "Still conflicted?" Kai muttered.

"Yes, but leaning towards hate again."

Did this top his list of stupid ideas? Po wasn't sure yet. "Okay, I know you both want to kill me right now, like, more than usual, but you need to listen to-GAH!" He swiftly ducked under a flying blade, deciding to get straight to the point. "Yinying is playing you both!"

Shen rolled his eyes. "I know, we've discussed this at length already."

"Hey, hold up." Kai, in the midst of throwing another blade, snapped his head towards Shen. "You've got that shadow bat hanging around you too?"

"I do. What of it?"

"So what did he offer you?"

"A second chance," Shen answered vaguely. "You?"

"Freedom." He shrugged. "Guy's a pain in the ass, but at least he gets the job done."

"Not without consequence," Po stressed. "Kai, what's the _rest_ of your deal?"

"Well, it's-HEY!" He growled at the panda. "Nice try, you're not getting me molested by shadow hands again!"

That's right, Kai couldn't freely talk about his deal. Or at least, he couldn't until now. "Yinying's not watching at the moment. You can tell me."

"I still don't want to, so _there!"_

Figured he had to make it difficult every step of the way. "Then let me take a wild guess and say it has to do with...your chi collection?"

He didn't hide his surprise very well. "W-What, are you psychic too?"

Shen didn't either. "You offered a demon your...just how stupid _are_ you?!"

He narrowly deflected another blade, almost resuming the battle. "Oh yeah? Well that's only if you actually manage to kill me! What about you, smart guy?!"

Shen didn't think the situation could get any worse. He was wrong. "I...have to kill you by midnight, or I die no matter what." No point hiding it now.

"Well then," Kai grinned wickedly, taking another step towards him, "it sure sounds like you got the short end if the stick, Shenny Boy. Guess I just have to claim your chi before midnight then."

"Yeah, you just have to…" Po paused. "Wait, no, that's not where I was going with that!" His words died in this throat as Kai immediately attacked again, Shen countering to incite the conflict once more. Po risked moving in closer, knowing he couldn't afford to leave them be. "Guys, stop it! I'm sure there's some hidden weakness in these contracts somewhere! You've just gotta work together to figure it out!"

He was thrown back, by not just a hoof, but a wing. "Forget it, panda! I'm not about to negotiate with this blowhard!"

"Yeah! Save your zen, peace-loving crap for someone who cares! I'll be busy beating your bird buddy into bite-sized bits!"

Po clutched his ears and pulled, groaning loudly. _Villains. I'll never understand villains!_

A sudden, loud boom got everyone's attention. As Kai kicked Shen away, he now saw one last cannonball heading straight for him. "SHEN, YOU LYING SON OF A-!"

It was only through experience that Kai avoided the shot, but not the explosion when it hit the ground in front of him. The yak screamed in rage as he corkscrewed through the air and into a row of buildings, adding even more to his destructive total. The resulting avalanche of brick and mortar would bury even him for a while.

Po took a nervous step back, as if expecting the next blast to come for him. "Uh...nice shot, Shen."

But Shen looked as confused as he did. "That wasn't me, tempting as it might have been."

Looking up simultaneously, they spotted Master Shifu perched on the cannon next to an unconscious wolf. "My apologies, Lord Shen. I didn't have time to ask for permission."

"What do _you_ want?"

"The same thing as Po does. Only it seems talking to just one of you may be the better solution."

His large ears twitched and he flipped off of the cannon a second before it was dropkicked in two. "I should've known you would find me…" He stared down the all too familiar face of Tai Lung as his old student turned to challenge him once again.

"Shifu!" Po immediately ran to help him.

"No!" he shouted, with enough force that he just as quickly ground to a halt. "I will handle this on my own! There's a lot more at stake here than just my life! Both of you, find a way to stop Yinying, we're counting on you!" With an emphasizing pound of his staff, Shifu fled across the rooftops, leading Tai Lung after him.

How many more sacrifices were they going to have to make to win this thing? Po decided then and there that he would not see any more. "Alright, Shen, let's put on our thinking caps and figure this out while we still can."

"There's nothing to discuss."

Not a good start. "Wha-? Did you not catch the part about the chi and the souls and the evil demon guy about to snatch them all? Cuz' I thought I was being pretty clear."

"I understand perfectly," he said, though without his usual venom behind it. He almost seemed indifferent, but Po knew better by now. "It just doesn't change anything. Either I kill Kai or become Yinying's plaything for eternity. Regardless of what Kai so stupidly bargained with, those are still my terms."

 _Definitely_ not a good start. "But...but...but-!"

"But if I do so, I'm dooming all of Kai's victims to the same fate, is _that_ what you're trying to say?" Shen stepped closer to the stunned panda. "Clearly you've forgotten during your misguided attempts to befriend me, but I am not a good person. I kill, I steal, I destroy...hell, we're in this very predicament because I let my own selfish desires dictate my actions. That's how I've always been, panda, like it or not."

"That doesn't mean it's how you always _will_ be," Po urged. "You gotta let go of that stuff from the past 'cause it just doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you choose to be _now_."

Shen blinked in surprise, a flash, no, a _memory_ floating back to the surface unhindered. He chuckled lightly. "Funny...I think you've said that to me before. In the other universe."

"Really?" He had to sit down and ask Shen all about that other universe sometime. It sounded awesome! "How'd it go?"

There was a fight, ropes sliced apart, then a cannon fell on him. Some things, perhaps, he would rather _not_ remember. "I didn't listen," he said slowly. "And that's how I died…"

Po was less surprised than he wanted to be that Shen's story had ended that way. But it could yet be rewritten. "Then if you're not going to listen to me, you should at least listen to yourself. Isn't _that_ the second chance you really wanted?"

Memory was such a troubling thing indeed. He was perfectly willing to just kill Kai and be done with it, but his own subconscious just _had_ to interfere. "...I will try," he finally said. "I will try to find another way. But no promises."

It was Po's widest smile in a long time. "That's all I can ask from you, buddy. C'mere!" Without warning, he lunged forward and pulled the startled peacock into one of his famous bear hugs.

"Ack! Unhand me, you filthy creature!" It was a sign of how close they had become that he merely jabbed his talons into Po's belly to escape, instead of using those same talons to disembowel him.

"S-Sorry!" Po choked out. "Might have gotten a little carried away there…"

Shen rolled his eyes. "Just get out here before my incredible patience with you runs out."

He backed away, still trying to keep that smile. "Right. Well if we get through this, maybe we could talk again sometime?" he asked hopefully.

"If we get through this…" Shen answered, "...I'll consider it."

"Good enough for me!" Po shot him a thumbs up.

"Leaving so soon?" Po gasped, his entire body suddenly wrapped up in thick chains. "You two are so cute together I just had to join in," Kai smirked, shaking off the last bits of dust from his mane.

Shen snarled, surprised by his own reaction as he immediately hurled his entire guandao at him.

Kai leapt to the side, letting the weapon stick itself in the ground. "Woah there! I'll get to _you_ in a minute. But first, I believe your panda friend was looking for a hug!" With a loud roar, he yanked Po's tremendous girth off of the ground and straight into his waiting arms. A bright green flash enveloped them.

"NO!" In defiance of any rational thought, Shen found himself rushing straight towards the godlike chi powerhouse without his signature weapon. Though he didn't realize it, he had just taken a page from Po's book.

The panda himself was strangely relaxed, despite seeing his own body slowly turning to jade. The last thing he did before it reached his head was give Shen one last, hopeful smile and say, "You're better than you think you are. Trust me."

And then he was gone. Laughing maniacally, Kai held up his new panda-shaped amulet for all to see. But the only reaction he was really looking for was Shen's. "Wow. Sure hope you weren't putting all your faith in _that_ guy."

He didn't get the reaction he wanted. Shen simply picked up his guandao and stared at him. "Let's end this."

* * *

 _Though we couldn't get everyone, we tried to blend in as many of Kai's jombies as possible to create a mixed bag for the final battle. The new ones come from "The Art of Kung Fu Panda 3" and other stray concept art that we thought looked neat. In honor of my co-author Mind Jack, you may recognize another little cameo as well. :P_

 _As tensions flare on every side, how on Earth is this all going to end? Find out next time! Or will you?_


	23. Shen vs Kai

_Happy New Update, everyone! This is how you start a year off! With...war and death apparently._

 _Climaxes are hard. And that's not a dirty joke, just relating the effort it takes to write so much action and character development and plot resolution, yadda yadda yadda. The point is, there's a LOT going on here, including the long-awaited end of Day 3 on the long-awaited end of 2017. What does that mean for our feathered sort-of friend? Let's find out._

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Shen vs. Kai**

"You know, something's just occurred to me," Mantis said calmly.

"And what's that?" Crane asked back.

"How are we still alive?!" Crane spun to the right as a plume of purple fire shot past, scroll clenched tightly in his talons.

Yinying was right behind them, sending out wave after wave in a literal hot pursuit. " **That contract is the express property of the Underworld! And myself! Which, in a matter of minutes, is going to be a redundant statement!"**

Mantis's concern was justified, and also quite remarkable since it _really_ didn't feel right for them to have lasted this long. This was not how it was supposed to happen, or maybe it was. Honestly, who cared at this point? As a wise man probably once said, don't question good fortune unless you want to lose it. "Wings of Justice!"

The wind created a shield against the latest blast of hellfire, but Yinying charged, unflinchingly, through it. He found no one on the other side. " **Hiding is useless. I can** _ **feel**_ **your souls."** Without looking, he raised an arm and fired behind him.

Crane just barely ducked it in time. "Creepy...but good to know. I'm still too fast for you anyway."

" **Perhaps, but what about him?"**

Mantis shivered, traces of dark embers still rolling off of him. "I think my inner demons just became outer…"

Crane sighed. That wise man was onto something. "Fine, but you're a shadow demon and you won't find any in the middle of the sky!"

Yinying spread his arms, a dark miasma spreading from each. " **You forget that I am a business owner. I** _ **own**_ **shadows!"** His silhouetted arms jutted forward, suddenly growing much longer as they closed in on Crane from each side. The bird once again ducked under the attack, but the two hands clenched into a fist and slammed down into his back.

Crane spiraled down towards the city, Mantis barely even holding on, until he finally managed to catch himself a few feet above the ground. "Yikes. That was close." He glanced at the soldiers from each army battling around him. They thankfully didn't notice him...but their shadows did. "And those are closer!"

Shadowy hands flew at him from every side, forcing Crane to remain low to the ground and always moving. Between the hands, the soldiers, and all the weapons flying around, this was an obstacle course even deadlier than the one at Lee Da. But just as he had weathered that challenge, albeit with a girl watching, Crane refused to back down.

The same could not be said for Mantis. "Just give up already. Life has no meaning, but death might."

" **Spoiler alert: it doesn't."** While Crane was distracted by his morose partner, a whole slew of hands sprung up in front of him. He had no time to react before they grabbed onto his wings and skinny legs, holding him in place. _I hope that was enough time for you, Po._

The shadows on the ground formed together into Yinying, who hovered up to his level. " **Now then, I believe we were discussing the repossession of my property."** He casually summoned his scythe without breaking eye contact.

It seemed their luck had finally run out. "Here..." Crane dropped the scroll from his talons, which Yinying pulled to him telekinetically.

" **Much appreciated. Whatever diversion you were trying to create, it ends here."**

The bird's head shot up in surprise. "You knew?"

" **Do I have to remind you too of how long I've been doing this? Of course I knew."**

"See?" Mantis sighed. "Meaningless."

"Then why chase us anyway?" asked Crane.

There was a large flash of green light, so bright it could be easily seen over the rooftops. There was little doubt where it came from, as Crane had been there only minutes ago. "Po…"

" **Have you ever heard the phrase, 'kill two birds with one stone'? Perhaps I should demonstrate."** Yinying raised the scythe to his side, in perfect position to lop off Crane's head.

Crane struggled to free himself to no avail. "Mantis, if you'd like to help out, now would be a really good time!"

Mantis sighed again. "I can't even lose my head the right way…"

Yinying swung, but only shadows passed through Crane's long neck. The demon had exploded in front of them, as the result of a well-timed throw by Master Shifu. The jade body of Tai Lung hit the nearby wall and flopped to the ground. "It appears I am just in time."

Yinying reformed, mildly annoyed at most. " **Hmph. The time continues to tick down, with or without your input. Spend what's left of it however you like, I have better things to do."** Tai Lung lunged at his backside, and was promptly blasted back into the wall. " **Like figuring out how to redecorate the old CEO's office. I think I'll start by setting it on fire. Cut my vacation days, will you…"** Still mumbling to himself, he disappeared into the ground and took off.

The shadowy hands departed with him, releasing Crane. "Master Shifu, Po is-"!

"I know," he said, restraining his voice. "He was not the first we've lost and he won't be the last unless we focus on the here and now. We must trust that he did what needed to be done."

"Or it was all in vain, just like everything else," Mantis suggested.

Shifu stepped closer, scrutinizing the bug. "What's wrong with him?"

"Yinying's mood fire," Crane answered. "I don't know how long he'll be like this."

"Probably forever," said Mantis.

Shifu slapped him. "Ow! Alright already, I'll help!"

"Glad to hear it." Shifu turned back to face his literally fallen student, who was still far from finished. "Because I'm not sure how much longer I can last."

* * *

This wasn't exactly what he had planned, Shen thought, in the midst of defending himself against another onslaught of sword slashes. He had hoped that Po, in his usual maverick style, would be able to help him turn the tables. Instead, the panda's enormous chi reserves were now being used against him. Even as a shiny trinket, he still found ways to be a nuisance.

Which wasn't to say he was out of options. Far from it. Po may have bumbled his way through life's problems, but Shen preferred to always have a backup plan.

"Better keep your head in the game, Shen!" In this brief moment of self-monologuing, Kai ducked under his latest swing and kicked him square in the beak. The force propelled him back, which thankfully reduced the damage up until he smacked into something else and prematurely ended his descent. Groaning, Shen reached for his guandao when he caught sight of a much larger weapon.

It was Master Thundering Rhino's cloud hammer, and it was still attached to Master Thundering Rhino. "Oh, not you again." In the heat of his own battle, it was easy enough to drown out the many others taking place around him up until he literally flew into the middle of one. He didn't get to fully appreciate this revelation as Rhino was now lifting said hammer over his head, and it was quite possible he never would.

"The turkey's mine! Get back to the mutts!" Kai ordered. Rhino froze mid-swing, wordlessly turning around and smashing the blunt weapon into a wolf that was trying to rescue him. Unfortunate timing on the fleabag's part, but it worked out well enough for Shen as he rolled back to his talons.

It seemed Kai was fully intent on keeping this a one-on-one duel, just as agreed. The rest of the war literally surrounded them on every side, but they kept their distance, giving the two commanders a wide berth to settle the score. _So he really does have a sense of honor. Or maybe just pride. I gave him a challenge and he won't accept any other outcome than beating me by the rules that I've set._

Shen smirked inwardly. _Perfect._

Kai watched closely as Shen approached again, exuding an uncomfortable amount of confidence in spite of his clear disadvantage. The bird was a scrawny weakling, but he couldn't deny that he was a tricky one too. It was the only way he'd lasted this long without ending up on his belt yet. He almost respected that level of calm cunning, mainly because it reminded him of- _No, I am NOT making that comparison! This princeling is nothing like...what is he doing?_

Shen should have attacked by now. He'd given him plenty of time to, even faked a few openings, but the bird had yet to strike. He was just moving back and forth...slowly...in a very familiar set of motions. "Are you doing tai chi?"

"It's not a style I'm particularly adept at, but I do know it," Shen replied, feeling utterly ridiculous as he moved his limbs slowly into position. "Master Rhino insisted on it, back before I blew him up." Kai growled and swung at his side, a blow swiftly deflected by a raised wing, the yak's own strength causing him to stumble past him. "Guess he had _some_ idea what he was talking about." Kai pivoted on his leg and attacked again, immediately tripped by the guandao as it swept past him. "I wonder if this is how that old so-and-so beat you way back when. What was his name again?"

The yak glared at him fiercely, seeing not Lord Shen, but yet another stinging reminder of what he'd lost.

 _It was a miracle. General Kai had never believed in such nonsense, but there was no other way he could describe it. Not until he had learned another word for this phenomenon: chi._

 _Oh, he'd heard of chi before, mainly from his brother's ramblings on the subject. How it was the essence of life, a part of all beings great and small, and essential to the flow of every battle. For something so essential, he'd been doing just fine without it, never giving the subject any serious thought._

 _He would never doubt those ramblings again. Not only did they find the lost village in the mountains, all the rumors surrounding it were true. More exhausted than he'd realized, Kai's strength gave out the moment he came through the gates. The people of this village, all pandas to his disbelief, immediately came to their aid. So far away from civilization, they must not have recognized China's most feared warlords. Why else would they help them?_

 _Kai didn't have the luxury of questioning their motives. On the verge of unconsciousness, he barely registered them pulling Oogway from his arms. He reached uselessly after him, moaning vague threats that didn't even make sense to himself, but to no effect. Only a few feet away, without even moving indoors, the pandas laid Oogway gently on the ground and formed a circle around him. Kai could no longer see his brother at all, fearing what these clearly insane villagers might do to him._

 _Then he saw it. Kai had to blink a few times just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but his eyes did not deceive him. A faint golden glow was emanating from their paws, lighting up the sky around them. Were he in a more lucid state, he would've yelled at them to knock off the light show and help Oogway, but he was too mesmerized now to do anything but watch. The glow gradually intensified until it was almost blinding, then began to simmer away. Before he could even put words to what he was seeing, it was over._

 _The pandas stepped away to finally let him see Oogway again, saving the biggest shock for last. The tortoise stood up just like he had every day of his life, not a scratch to be seen on shell or skin. By the look on his face, even Oogway was amazed by his recovery, and there was very little that could surprise him. What on Earth just happened?_

 _Suddenly, it didn't matter anymore. Kai couldn't help himself, tears of joy brimming from his bovine eyes. His brother was alive._

Kai threw out a blade with far more ferocity than usual. Shen, unpracticed as he was at tai chi, lost a few feathers dodging it. "Are you trying to mock me?!"

"Well it doesn't take much effort." Shen was forced to deflect another blade, this one singing his wing in the process. "What's wrong? All that chi power not what it's cracked up to be?" Rolling back to avoid another swing, Shen turned around and shot a rope dart out into the crowd surrounding them. It snagged one of the Badger Twins, who was just small enough for Shen to plant his metal talons in the ground and yank him forward, directly towards Kai.

The yak leapt back at him, shattering the jombie against his belly. "I got _that_ one from your precious panda!" Before the jade pieces could even hit the ground, Kai pulled them back into his hooves, infusing them with even more chi and launching them back. "He says hi!"

Shen jumped and glided over what was now a wave of energy balls, hearing explosions and screams of soldiers behind him. A small price to pay hopefully. "And here I thought you'd be _tougher_ the third time around." Another chi blast came at him too quickly to dodge. Shen tried to block with his guandao, knocking the bird on his side. Kai grinned menacingly, literally glowing with power and now focused entirely on pulverizing him with it.

Shen struggled to stand. He couldn't keep this up forever, or even for however long it took his soul clock to run out. He just hoped he could keep it up long _enough._

* * *

In her many years on this Earth, the Soothsayer had never seen as much violence as she had in these past three days, and that included Shen's banishment, plus the many grim visions of his future. Some things just had to be experienced in person.

Watching a giant gorilla beat down what used to be a pack of wolves was one of them. "These...things...just...keep...coming!" the Chief Gorilla grunted, his fists cracking jade with every blow, but starting to get pretty cracked themselves. "Got any predictions on how to get outta this mess?"

"If I did, would we still be in it?" she asked back, with wry amusement despite their circumstances.

"Fair point." He swung his whole arm out, catching the Wolf Boss and three others under the chin and flinging them away. "Guess seeing the future can't solve everything."

"Indeed…" she sighed. "I am beginning to wonder if it can solve _anything."_

"Hey now, don't talk like that!" He literally curb stomped a wolf's head to keep him from expressing his own opinion. "We all know that the whole 'black and white' prophecy might have been better left unsaid, but you couldn't have seen that coming!" He paused, in the midst of bashing two more together. "I mean...I guess you _could_ have, but…"

"Perhaps fate is better left to its own devices," she said, barely hearing him. "I often wonder how much of this could have been prevented had I never said anything to Shen."

"Probably not much. The guy's pretty stubborn-wait, are we talking about the same thing here?" He lifted a giant ball made up of every battered wolf and punted it away, allowing him to fully focus on this. "What did you prophesize to Shen _directly?"_

Evidently, the ability to see the future also didn't prevent one from sticking their foot in their mouth. "I...it was nothing."

"Sorry, not buying it. Despite what everyone thinks of gorillas, I'm not just dumb muscle."

The cruel irony of this was that Shen would give her hell for spilling the beans if he were actually coming back. It was that same realization that told her there was no more point in hiding it. "Shen is going to die." Also no point in beating around the bush.

Even the big ape's usual smart mouth couldn't come up with a better reply than, "...When...where...how?!"

"Right here in Gongmen...before the stroke of midnight...at Kai's hands."

He didn't say anything for a while after that. Stuck up here on his backside, she assumed he was in as much shock over the whole thing as she was at the fateful moment she learned of Shen's future.

Turns out gorillas had a very different way of dealing with grief. "OH HELL NO!" Foresight or not, she knew it would be in her best interest to hold on tight. Disregarding the many enemies still in their path, the Chief Gorilla lowered his head and charged headlong in Shen's direction. A veritable shower of green flew across the streets, to the awe and fear of the mortal soldiers who all wanted to stay far away from this furry hurricane. A misfired cannonball flew straight at him, and exploded against his fist. "He is _not_ leaving us right now! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Holding on for dear life, the Soothsayer reflected on the loyalty of Shen's minions, and once again that she really should have seen this coming.

* * *

Shen dodged left, then right, kicking a blade out of his path, deflecting another with his own, ducking under a chi blast, then turning and throwing a knife behind him, all while in the middle of (if he were being honest) running away. But there was a method behind it, really, even if it looked terribly dishonorable from a distance. Kai certainly thought so, which Shen had to remind himself was to his advantage. "I thought you were a peacock, not a chicken! How many of those pretty tail feathers do I gotta clip before you'll stand and fight?!"

Shen might have balked at the idea of lifelong humiliation if that covered more than the next half-hour or so. But for the sake of what passed as his plan, he managed to flip Kai off with his wing and quickly pulled it back before it was severed.

This is where a complication arose, as they had now reached the ring of soldiers that formed their arena. Just days ago, Shen would have thought nothing of darting straight through them, regardless of how many of his own troops were killed by Kai's rampage. Unfortunately, that annoyingly growing thing known as a conscience made him veer left at the last second, a blade just missing both him and a nearby wolf. He really hoped this newfound sense of morality wasn't going to hamper his tactical mind _too_ much.

Kai pulled his swords back and kept them there, even he starting to sense that something was off about this. Shen wasn't acting like he usually did, selfish and power hungry and willing to do anything to win, traits he had all shown during their previous encounters. Frankly, it reminded him a lot of himself and he missed having a rival like that.

To his chagrin, he realized this wasn't even the first time he had felt that way.

 _In a matter of minutes, Oogway had gone from knocking on Death's door to good as new. Kai's injuries had taken even less time to heal. The power of chi was truly incredible._

 _And it was exactly the kind of power he had been looking for._

 _The two generals were free to leave at any time, but what was the rush? The pandas were more than willing, naively so, to share their gift, and Kai was just as willing to gain it. His dream of building an even bigger and better army was more than just a dream now. With this kind of power, they might not even NEED an army to conquer China!_

 _He could only assume Oogway had the same goal in mind. Why else would he have shown such eagerness to learn from the pandas? Still, there was something different about him now that he couldn't quite explain. The tortoise had always been somewhat withdrawn, but he was being particularly distant as of late. Even Kai could barely get a few words out of him before he drifted away again, and none of those words sounded anything like 'The Art of War'._

 _It was clear that something was troubling him, and it bothered Kai more than it should have that he wouldn't confide in him about it. But he continued to tell himself that Oogway was simply in shock over his near-death experience and just needed some time to learn this new skill and get back into the swing of things. It wasn't like anything was REALLY going to change, right? Oogway was still his brother and Kai would be there to help him when he needed it._

 _Heck, he was helping him already. Kai was learning to manipulate chi in ways he'd never imagined, to strengthen his attacks and heal damage from others. He was becoming quite the adept chi warrior, even if the dumb pandas wanted him to use it for nobler purposes like growing plants or whatever. Yeah, good luck convincing a seasoned warlord NOT to fight. Smart of Oogway to pretend to go along with it, but he didn't have that kind of patience._

 _And yet, Kai still didn't feel strong enough to accomplish his other goal of protecting the tortoise. Sure, this training would be a big help in battle, but in the end, all he was harnessing was his own power, which had already failed Oogway once before. He couldn't trust his chi to do any better, at least not without a lot more backing it up. That's when a thought occurred to him._

 _He had witnessed the power to give chi...but what if he could also take it away?_

A knife clinked off of his horn. "What was that about keeping my head in the game?"

Kai narrowed his eyes, now seeing the bird in a new, and very unfashionable light. "I get it now. You're reminding me more and more of him, you know that? That's why I've been getting all of these unwelcome flashbacks."

Shen scoffed. "You want to talk unwelcome flashbacks, try having your memory wiped."

"STOP RELATING TO ME!" Kai stomped the ground, a wave of chi flipping Shen onto his back. But the bird caught himself and turned sideways just enough for the two blades that followed to miss, much like a deadlier version of Twister. He produced two knives and jammed them through Kai's chains, locking them both into the ground.

It wouldn't hold for long and Shen could have easily used that moment to strike back instead, making Kai even more frustrated. "I bet you're just trying to stall for time until some other asinine plan of yours comes into play." He infused both blades with enough chi power that even the chains attached to them glowed green. "Too bad you don't have any time _left!"_ Still embedded firmly into the ground, the blades started to hum violently, giving Shen more than enough reason to stay away. Kai yanked hard, causing them to start tearing through the stone and concrete like it was hot butter...and now coming after Shen.

There was no shame in running from this. Shen's speed was able to outpace the whirling green death following him, but not by much. Years of overcompensating for his frail body finally paying off, Shen ran the full perimeter of the ring, the blades searing the ground behind him. Kai failed to notice this until that path ended where it started, essentially carving out a giant circle. There was a loud crack, followed by a loud yell as the ground caved in under him. Kai staggered, but remained standing, the structural damage not quite enough to topple him.

He might have stopped to taunt Shen some more if not for a few well-placed fireworks suddenly landing at his feet. He might have stopped to curse out Shen some more if not for the resulting explosion cutting him off. The already weakened surface now collapsed completely, sending Kai falling somewhere into the Undercity, a pretty long way down judging by the sound of his echoing scream. Explosions and screaming had always been music to Shen's proverbial ears and this tune was especially moving.

Still trying to catch his breath, he allowed himself just the faintest hope...that maybe he wouldn't have to die here after all.

* * *

Several blocks away, hope was getting a bit harder to come by. Crane had been literally swatted aside, his feathers scattered across the ground, Mantis had been cleanly stomped on, which could very well have killed him if not for his unnaturally strong exoskeleton, and Master Shifu was back to fighting for his life against his former pupil. How this had happened to him four times now he wasn't sure, but it was getting old.

Tai Lung stepped forward and threw a punch that Shifu had to flatten his ears to dodge. He used his staff to trip the jade feline, but he almost immediately flipped himself back up and landed a kick to his small frame. Shifu caught himself with the staff and swung back around to return the favor with a kick between Tai Lung's eyes. The cat barely even reacted, just smirking at him with what little personality this jombie retained. Both master and pupil could tell how futile this was. It was all just a matter of holding out long enough for some kind of miracle.

Sadly, this was a job he had reserved for Po. He was less than thrilled by the prospect of relying on Lord Shen instead.

"Wings of Ambush!" Spinning like a corkscrew, Crane veered in on Tai Lung from behind. Before Shifu even had the chance to question if this could be the miracle he was waiting for, Tai Lung ducked under the attack, then flipped upwards to kick Crane back to the ground. It seemed that lacking a soul did not impact his ability to hear.

Not that Shifu could expect much more. There was very little that could catch his protégé off guard. As Tai Lung returned his attention to him, the old master steeled his resolve to try anyway, even if it took him until the literal end of the world.

"Comin' through!" Tai Lung was violently trampled under the large feet of the Chief Gorilla. "Hey, old guy, you know which way Shen went?"

He took a firm smack to the back of the head. "Respect your elders," the Soothsayer quipped.

Shifu needed a second to recover from his shock. "Last I saw, he and Kai were that way." He pointed away with his staff. "Although I wouldn't recommend trying to interfere."

"Screw that! Shen's gonna die if I don't do something!"

"You don't know that." He caught the guilty expression on the goat's face. "You... _do_ know that…"

"I couldn't keep it in any longer," she said. "My apologies."

"Wait, Shifu knew about this too? Are the soldiers the only ones who didn't?!"

"My apologies," she repeated.

There was a loud roar from beneath them and the ape suddenly found his leg being lifted off the ground. With strength even Shifu didn't know he had, Tai Lung stood back up and toppled the Chief Gorilla over. It was only through Shifu's fast reflexes that he was able to grab the Soothsayer and carry her away before she became a goat pancake.

"Oh no, you didn't!" the ape growled, snatching the leopard from the air as he pounced after them, slamming him back into the cobblestone. He didn't stop there, standing back up and pivoting his arm back and forth to create a few more craters in the ground. "Puny cat."

Tai Lung snarled and lunged up at him, cracked in many places, but not broken. The Chief Gorilla aimed to rectify that, battering him with fists and feet while taking scratches and bites in return. The real Tai Lung would not have fought so recklessly, Shifu thought. At least, not until a runaway scroll of alleged ultimate power came along. "I appreciate your company, but please put me down," the Soothsayer requested. He did so hurriedly, not wanting his students to get any ideas.

Thankfully, even Mantis was too busy just trying to pull himself together. "Master Shifu, what should we do?"

Shifu stared hard at the scene of the Chief Gorilla struggling valiantly against Tai Lung. As if sensing this, the ape wrapped his beefy arms around the leopard and shouted back. "Forget about me! Go save Shen!"

That made his decision easy. Shifu looked back defiantly. "There will be no more sacrifices. Mantis, Crane, get in position!"

The bird wearily raised his head again. "Position for what?"

Tai Lung's tail lashed back, striking the Chief Gorilla like a sharp whip. He ignored the pain from his now bleeding nose and headbutted his smaller opponent with a force that hurt _him_ significantly more, but staggered the leopard. Still not caring, he grabbed him with both huge hands and attempted to crush him. Tai Lung smirked at the effort, already starting to overpower the ape.

And that's when he exploded. All at once, Mantis landed a flying kick to Tai Lung's posterior, Crane dive bombed into his back, and Shifu struck with a crushing chop to the skull. These combined attacks on an immobile target burst the Master of the Thousand Scrolls like a cheap piñata. "The gesture is appreciated, but I would prefer not to leave you to die," Shifu said.

The Chief Gorilla frowned, still in the same pose with his hands now crushing nothing. "I mean, I would've won, but thanks I guess…"

"Now then," he continued, arms folded behind his back like it was just another day at the Jade Palace, "I believe you wanted to go after Shen?"

The kill-stealing forgiven, he snapped back to attention and raced off in the vague direction Shifu pointed out. "WE'RE COMING, SHEN! NO DYING YET!"

After all the time he'd spent with Po, Shifu barely batted an eye. "Crane, carry the Soothsayer. Mantis, try to keep up." Shifu sprinted after the exuberant ape, followed by Crane and his new passenger, then a strangely pleased Mantis.

"Wow...we are _still_ alive!"

* * *

Shen spent a long time waiting for the satisfying thump of a yak plummeting to the ground, even if he'd learned the hard way that it wouldn't be enough to kill him.

But Kai did not even hit the bottom. Mid-fall, he had hooked his swords into what was left of the ceiling and was now just hanging there, swinging slowly back and forth and lost in thought. Annoying as he was, Shen had gotten the better of him more than anyone else and he had to commend him for that. Even Oogway was only tied 1-1 with him outside of sparring. _Wait, no! Don't think of Oogway, don't think of Oogway, don't think of-_

" _Oogway?" The blow had come suddenly and without warning. For what felt like an eternity, Kai could only stare back, gaping in disbelief that his brother had just attacked him. "What are you doing?"_

" _I could ask you the same thing," the tortoise said calmly. TOO calmly, as if he himself didn't realize the magnitude of this betrayal. "These people saved my life, Kai, and this is how you repay them? By taking that which they have already gifted to us?" Kai reflexively looked down at the newly-formed jade amulet in his hoof, the first of many. The other pandas had already fled, probably to form an angry mob now that Oogway had cost him the element of surprise._

 _No, it was just a misunderstanding. He just had to explain the situation and then Oogway would understand. He HAD to. "It's not enough," Kai answered, trying to keep calm as well. "They may have healed you, but they can't protect you from the dangers outside. We are at WAR, Oogway. We need any advantage we can get."_

 _At this, Oogway became unnervingly quiet, and this finally confirmed Kai's worst fears. "I...do not think I will be returning to war."_

 _His teeth clenched from the continued effort of remaining calm. "Excuse me?"_

" _When I was nearing my demise, all I could think about was what I would leave behind, what my legacy to the world would be. What have we truly accomplished, Kai? The path you and I have traveled on is filled with nothing but destruction and sorrow. It...is not a path I wish to follow any longer." And he was still so damn CALM about it._

 _But Kai could stay calm no longer, his sadness quickly spiraling around into rage. "Are you kidding me?!" He took one hard stomp towards Oogway, an instinctual threatening gesture he would never use against the reptile in any other circumstance. "When I found you wandering the coastline, all you told me was how much you wanted to see the world! That you left your pathetic little home in the Galapagos in search of adventure, excitement, even a few scaly ladies! But now, after all the land we've conquered, all the lives we've subjugated, NOW you decide to grow a conscience?!" He stomped again, not feeling nearly as bad about it the second time. "You're choosing those damn pandas over ME, your sworn brother in arms?!"_

" _It's not about the pandas," Oogway insisted. Finally, there was a hint of guilt in his tone, but Kai wasn't so sure where it came from now. "I have seen the true beauty of life and through it have been reborn. I cannot ignore this sign."_

" _You're still alive because of ME," Kai hissed. His arm moved almost on its own, raising his double-headed spear and pointing it in Oogway's direction. There was no going back now. "It's too late for regrets. You don't get to just throw me aside and move on. I am going to harness the power of chi and take over this stupid country...with or without you."_

" _It doesn't have to be this way." Oogway was pleading with him now, but it was already too late and both of them knew it. "You can change, Kai, as I have. You have the potential-"_

" _I don't WANT to change! This is who I am, Oogway! Take it or leave it!"_

 _Oogway sighed, a profound sadness leaking from his voice. In the next moment, it was gone. "Then I have no other choice…" Kai knew then that he had been planning to betray him from the beginning. Why else would he have brought his own weapon to confront him? That deadly spear pointed straight back at him, as cold and piercing as his former friend's words._

 _Unfortunately, Kai had never been one for talk, just as he had never been one for kindness and mercy. Oogway was his only link to such values...and now that link was irrevocably broken._

 _Kai roared in pain and rage, charging towards his own hapless destiny._

Shen finally did hear something, a roar of some kind. Knowing he didn't have the luxury of time to waste, that was good enough to warrant approaching the edge of the crater. He had his weapons at the ready, fully expecting a sword to come flying at his face the second he peeked over the edge.

Instead, the ground under his talons was suddenly yanked away. Shen squawked indignantly and fell, unknowingly triggering the same instinct as Kai by turning himself around and quickly hooking a rope dart around a stalactite. This, however, sent him swinging downwards towards, Kai, who was eagerly waiting to skewer him.

Unfurling his tail feathers, he altered his flight path just enough to glide up and over Kai's sword and kick him with both talons, knocking him back only through sheer momentum. Kai swung back and kicked off the wall, hurtling towards Shen with even greater force. Turning his train to the right, Shen dodged the first swing, then spun around and came back towards him, his guandao raised to counter him. The two blades met in the center and clashed briefly, then swung past each other for another go.

They did this a few more times, like a pair of angry pendulums, until Shen realized they were starting to lose that precious momentum and it would soon come down to brute strength again. Before that happened, he withdrew a knife and sliced his own rope, gliding under Kai and leaving him suddenly swinging at nothing. Growling to himself, Kai waited until he was coming back around and then yanked his other sword from the ceiling, launching himself after the bird. Shen wasn't too concerned about being caught until Kai somehow shot a blast of chi from the back of his hooves and literally rocketed after him. Having better maneuverability, Shen sharply turned to the right as he zoomed by, but was not quite fast to avoid getting clotheslined by his outstretched arm. Kai hit the ground hard enough to create a small explosion, while Shen lost control of his flight and made a pretty rough landing himself.

The main difference being that Kai was barely injured, a flickering chi shield keeping him safe from harm. The yak pulled his horns from the ground and shook off the rubble, cracking his neck as if he'd just been through a good workout. Shen coughed up dust, and a bit of blood, trying to ignore the distinct feeling that he'd just broken one of his wings. "Okay, so you've learned some new tricks. Want a treat?"

Kai wasn't in the mood for banter anymore. He lifted both hooves to the sky like the god he thought he was, lifting all of the surrounding rocks, pillars, and other deadly missiles with him. They started to spin around him, picking up speed until it became a veritable tornado of whirling death. After a brief pause to let Shen appreciate the effort, he thrust both arms forward, laughing maniacally all the while.

 _Just a little more._ Shen split a rock in half with his guandao, a bit harder with one wing, then was forced to jump a wide column, running along its surface to the other side. He used the guando again, spinning it quickly to deflect a hail of smaller, sharper rocks, crying out as one finally got through and struck his good wing, making him drop the weapon. Unfortunate timing too, because the next thing to come flying at him was a weapons rack. A curved scimitar shaved off a few more feathers from his left side, an axe just missed his scrawny neck, he caught a spear in his talons and flung it to the side, and then the rack itself plowed into him anyway. Shen was slammed back into the wall, feeling about as sturdy as the wooden rack tha shattered around him. And to top it all off, some kind of jombified shark flew past him, gnashing its teeth as it just missed Shen and was sucked away. The good news was that was the last of it.

The bad news was that Kai had something even worse in store. While Shen was busy dodging, or trying to, he hadn't paid much attention to what the yak was doing, and to give credit where credit was due, it was actually a pretty effective diversion. Though Shen found it more likely that he'd simply lost the patience to wait for one attack to end before starting another.

And what an attack it was. Kai had spent this time gathering even more chi energy together, forming a giant green ball that hovered over his head and growing larger by the second. He only waited until Shen caught sight of the monstrosity before he released it. "CATCH!"

 _Perhaps...I might have pushed him just a little too far._

The ball of chi hadn't been very well-aimed, but it hardly needed to be. It was like a miniature volcano had just erupted in the center of the crater, sending a massive green flair up into the sky. Everyone from soldier to jombie to concerned citizen couldn't help but stare at it, adding some ooooh's and ahhhh's to the mix. And when it finally settled down, they were all curious what, if anything, would come crawling back out. Most of all three kung fu masters, a beleaguered seer, and an overly-excited ape who was now picking up the pace even more.

But down in the midst of it, all was not quiet and uncertain, not with Kai already doing a victory dance. "Oh yeah! Beat that peacock! Uh huh! Smoked him real good! That's right! Gonna take. His. Chi. Nooooooow!" Still with a bit of a skip in his step, Kai started searching the ruins for what he expected to be a _very_ beaten bird. Even with that much power at his disposal, he had made sure not to hit him directly, lest he accidentally vaporize the guy before he could be collected.

He didn't have to search for long. A particularly large pile of rubble shifted around and out emerged a gasping Lord Shen, covered head to metallic toe in dust and looking significantly worse for wear...but still standing.

Kai, frozen in shock mid-jig, couldn't quite voice his disbelief. "But...all that...you...HOW?!"

Shen coughed, just trying to remain conscious. "Buried myself under some really big rocks...and waited." Kai still didn't move as he slowly limped across the ground and retrieved his slightly-bent weapon, pointing it at the yak with a single trembling wing. "Now...shall we continue?"

That finally broke Kai out of his gaping stupor. "Are you serious? You can barely stand! I could take your chi right now and you couldn't do a damn thing about it!"

"But you won't," Shen said calmly. "Not while I'm still able to fight. After all this time we've been at war, I don't think you're willing to let our battle end without a proper conclusion. Is that the kind of victory you want, Kai?"

Kai huffed, shaking his head in either annoyance or pity. "You _are_ trying to stall. Whatever. I won't need more than one final push…" He brought his hoof back, charging up another blast, "...to bring you down!" He took a step forward and launched it.

It sizzled into nothing almost immediately.

"Huh?" Kai repeated the motion and his attack crapped out even faster. "C'mon, you lousy…" He shook out his arm and tried once more. This time there was nothing at all. "What the hell?!"

"You still haven't realized?" Shen asked, his usual smugness starting to creep back in. "You may have been channeling the two greatest sources of chi in all of China, maybe even the entire world, but it is still finite. And it appears you have finally run out."

Kai flicked his fingers repeatedly, trying and failing to at least get some sparks. Growling loudly, he finally gave up on it. "So that was your plan! I knew you were up to something!"

"To be fair, it wasn't my plan up until you took Po. It was then that I knew I wouldn't have a chance unless I robbed you of your _crutch_ once and for all. Good thing you share Po's reckless stupidity along with his chi or it never would have worked." He threw a knife as Kai attempted to lift his arm, smirking in satisfaction as it embedded itself with no resistance and made him scream in pain. "Just _try_ to call back more chi and you'll have a blade through your heart before you even see it."

Kai was in far more pain than he was used to just yanking the knife from his arm. "So what?! You think this is over?! I'll beat you down with my bare hooves if I have to!"

Shen spat some blood onto the ground and stared back at him, still not moving from his position. "Then come and get me."

Kai looked briefly at his chain swords, but put them away. He didn't need anything else to win and now he was going to prove it. Dropping to all fours, his back hoof kicked against the ground a couple times and then he was off, charging straight for Shen and screaming a war cry.

It didn't work out any better for him. Kai only just started running when he already began to slow down, his limbs growing heavy and wobbly with each step. He barely made it halfway to Shen before he collapsed completely, skidding the rest of the distance until he was only a few inches in front of him, his long horns harmlessly passing Shen on each side. His screaming war cry ended in a pitiful whimper. "It's not enough...not enough…"

Shen looked down at him, not at all surprised. "When I said you burned through all of your chi, I _meant_ all of it, including your own. Take it from someone who's learned the hard way: never lose sight of that which is closest to you." At the moment, that was the tip of Shen's guandao, hovering over Kai's throat. " _Now_ it's over."

And all Kai saw was the remorseful face of Oogway. " _I'm sorry, old friend."_

* * *

"We're...almost...there!" the Chief Gorilla panted, even he starting to wear down from all this exertion.

The crater was within sight now, but blocking the way were the Jombie Master's Council, several jombie wolves, and for some reason, Master Chicken. Groaning, he readied himself for what would hopefully be the final charge.

"Wait!" He reflexively put on the brakes as best he could, but still bumped right into Master Thundering Rhino.

Strangely, the expected hammer to the face did not come. Neither did any bites, or scratches, or pecks. They weren't doing anything at all, just standing there like ordinary, non-lethal jade statues. "What the…?"

"Just as I thought," Shifu said, lightly tapping Master Croc with his staff. The reptile fell onto his back without protest. "They've stopped receiving Kai's input."

Only now did they notice how much quieter it was. The sounds of battle abruptly died down all around, replaced by confused muttering and the shuffling of feet as Shen's army started to converge on the crater as well, seeking some kind of order on what they were supposed to do now.

"Does that mean he's dead?" Crane asked. "Because I know all life is precious, but he was a real piece of work."

"No. If he were dead, those he captured would return to normal." Unless Yinying had already gotten ahold of their souls, he reminded himself. "Kai must be unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated."

The Chief Gorilla pounded his huge chest. "Then let's find him and beat the stuffing out him!"

"Uh...I think we might be too late for that," Mantis said, pointing his leg down into the crater. They all gathered around the edge, stunned at what they saw.

"SHEN!"

* * *

The peacock frowned, looking up at a familiar group of faces crowding the edge of the crater. He saw the Soothsayer among them, along with what was left of the Jade Palace ensemble and his army, the latter starting to cheer uproariously at his victory. It wasn't so much heartwarming as it was awkward. "I appreciate the audience, but could you hold on a second? I'm on a bit of a time crunch here!"

The Jade Palace group looked down at the defeated Kai, then back at him, just as surprised as he was that their positions were not reversed. "We thought you were gonna die!" the Chief Gorilla yelled bluntly.

"You should know me better than that! As if I would…" He caught that same guilty look on the Soothsayer's face. "You _told_ them?!"

She just nodded, not sure what to make of this now. Neither were the rest of his soldiers, who had no idea what he was talking about. It was almost a shame. Having his loss literally destined only made winning that much sweeter. Once he realized that, his anger quickly dissolved into pure ecstasy. "Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? See this? You were wrong after all! Kai is defeated and I still live! I have conquered fate once again!"

It wasn't the Soothsayer, but Shifu who challenged him. "Shen, do you even realize what you're about to do? What Po has gone through so much effort to prevent?"

"I have a pretty good idea," he admitted. "Sadly, I have seen no better outcome for myself than to purge this 'collector' from the face of the Earth."

"And all of his victims along with him?!" Shifu yelled. Even Crane and Mantis had never seen him so angry. "The other masters, my students, even your own soldiers!"

Those soldiers suddenly weren't cheering so loudly anymore. They still didn't know what was going on, but the implications came through loud and clear. Would they attempt to stop him? Would Shifu? He had come too far to take any risks now. "Seize them!"

He had acted quickly enough. Any building dissent among the ranks was drowned out by the issuing of a direct order. "Sorry about this." The Chief Gorilla wrapped his arms around Shifu, holding him tightly, while Crane and Mantis were easily overwhelmed by the mass of furry paws now keeping them down.

Even so, Shifu did not relent. "You really _haven't_ changed! Even after all this time, you're still the same selfish, bitter warlord!"

"Maybe, but I'm a selfish, bitter warlord who is going to live to see tomorrow."

" **If I may interject?"** Without any warning or fanfare, Yinying was now standing behind him, his black hourglass hovering next to him. " **While I am not legally allowed to sway your decision, I do suggest you make it within…"** He studied the falling sands for a few seconds. " **...exactly one minute."**

"I suppose that settles it then." Forcing himself to block out everything else, raised his weapon again above the yak. "Time's up, Kai."

But that single minute seemed to stretch on for an eternity. For whatever reason, it _wasn't_ as simple as just putting his guandao through Kai's neck. It certainly _should_ have been, especially with his own life on the line, and it infuriated him that he found his own two wings refusing to cooperate.

 _You know why you can't do it._ A voice echoed in his head. It sounded an awful lot like his own, but more innocent and a bit goofy. So the panda truly had tainted his mind. _You put on this big show about still being the tyrant they see you as, but you know that isn't you anymore. You've changed, like it or not._

As if he weren't feeling crazy enough, another voice joined in. This one also sounded like him, but it was dark and sinister, not unlike a certain bat, or a certain peacock at one time. **What are you waiting for? This is what you've been fighting so long to achieve. Are you going to just give it up now?**

 _No, Shen, this isn't what you've been fighting for. Don't you remember why you made this deal? Prove to them that you're worthy of a second chance or you'll never have the peace you've always wanted._

 **Most of China's greatest masters have already been taken. Kill him now and they'll never return. Then no one will be able to stop you.**

 _True redemption is within your grasp._

 **China awaits its new emperor.**

Even Shen himself was surprised by his own answer. He couldn't do this, not even with the emperor's throne laid at his feet. That wasn't the recognition he wanted anymore…and it never truly was.

But what else could he do? Even if he stayed his hand, Yinying would never let all those souls slip away that easily. He wouldn't let this deal close until he either killed Kai or joined his collection. There was no other option.

 _Yes there is, Shen. You've known how to stop him all along. You just never acknowledged it before._

Shen blinked and time resumed. He was still just standing there like an idiot, engaged in a deadly staring contest with Kai. " **Thirty seconds, Mr. Shen,"** Yinying said impatiently. " **You are taking a remarkably long time to decide the inevitable."**

"I was wrong."

The bat frowned. " **Wrong about what?"**

Shen glanced up, just seeing the Soothsayer out of the corner of his eye. He still couldn't quite look at her, but he hoped she would understand too. "The prophecy. The one that started this whole ordeal. All this time, I treated it like a bad omen, a failure state if I should lose this war. But that's not what it was."

There was a demonic hiss at the back of his neck. Much like him, Yinying hated not being in control. " **Then what** _ **was**_ **it?"**

As he looked back down, Shen noticed something else. Kai was still staring silently at him, but his left arm was suspiciously low, hidden from sight by anyone else. His hoof glowed a very faint green that grew steadily brighter, the result of discreetly reabsorbed chi. Kai had heard Yinying's proclamation and he wasn't going to just lay there much longer. This didn't alarm Shen as much as he'd expected. He knew now that he was expecting this all along. "It was my solution."

"I won't lose…" Kai muttered softly, that hoof glowing even brighter as it clenched into a fist. In what he had assumed was a moment of distraction, the yak leapt up, his fist plowing straight towards Shen's face. "I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!"

In his rage and desperation, Kai failed to realize just how much power he had packed into that punch. He failed to realize just how little Shen could take. He had no idea what was about to happen.

But Shen did.

And so did Yinying. " **N-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

*CRACK*

It was nearly instantaneous, a blow intended to incapacitate Shen having instead broken his neck. As the peacock's twitching body began to shut down, the last thing he saw was the horrified look on Yinying's face. It managed to bring a smile to his own. "How's that...for planting another tree?"

And Lord Shen was finally at peace.

* * *

 _If Shen and Kai's previous made one thing clear, it's that Shen stands no chance in a head-on fight. Hence, his tactics for fighting him grew increasingly less physical and more psychological, culminating in this mental beat down. It's kinda scary how much Shen and Oogway have in common._

 _But it isn't just about Shen, as this was also the perfect opportunity to finish off Kai's flashbacks, which were originally going to be just one until it became clear how much there was still left to tell. It was tempting to show Kai and Oogway's fight in full, but that would've taken a bit too much time away from the here and now. The parallel worked out nicely though. Remember that vs. doesn't just mean "conflicting", but "contrasting," which also applies to the story as a whole._

 _But man, you thought that LAST cliffhanger was bad! We might actually get murdered for this one. But before you kill us, remind yourself that the answers will be lost forever if you do. Also remind yourself that there are still a couple chapters left in which to possibly make things better. And that Chapter 24 will be coming very soon, before Born to Be Wilde because even we're not THAT mean._

 _Feel better now? *ducks swarm of tomatoes* Well, I tried._


	24. Deal With It

_Told ya this one would be fast. Short too, but certainly eventful._

* * *

 **Chapter 24: Deal With It**

Gongmen City went from the noisiest place in China to dead silent almost in an instant. Shen's sudden death came as a shock to everyone, even the one who'd seen it coming three days in advance. The Chief Gorilla at least had some time to prepare, but the rest of Shen's army was completely floored, having no idea why their master just committed suicide by Kai. And for Shifu and his students, it almost came as a pleasant surprise, but they weren't about to voice that, especially when the same action now had them questioning their opinion of the peacock. Whether these onlookers knew it or not, Lord Shen had just saved all of them.

The first to regain his composure was the one who cared the least about Shen, but the most about him dying. " **Absorb him! Now!"** Yinying ordered.

 _He didn't even try to dodge…_ "R-Right!" Kai moved his hooves in that familiar motion, a green glow emanating from them as he attempted to draw in Shen's chi. No one tried to stop him. They all knew it was already too late. "I...I can't. He's got no life...so no chi."

The demon glanced back at his hourglass. In all the shock, no one noticed that the sands had run a bit longer than he'd implied, and were only now about to empty. It was extra time he would've used to ensure that Kai absorbed Shen on the off-chance that Shen backed down, but now the bird had removed himself from the equation entirely. His options limited, he looked up at their shared audience and pointed sharply at Kai. " **Kill him! You all want your revenge, don't you?! Now's your chance, while he's still weak! Kill him! Kill him now!"**

The yak narrowed his eyes. Shen was no longer on the top of his shit list.

But before most of the crowd even figured out who this strange bat was, the last grain of sand fell on the stroke of midnight. There was a small flash and both contracts appeared before Yinying, opening themselves up to reveal a single word printed in red across the parchments:

EXPIRED

Yinying could only stand there and watch as all of his hard work literally vanished before his eyes, leaving him holding nothing but air. He looked very much like someone just told him the Winter Feast was canceled. " **But...I planned it so perfectly...picked the most self-serving mortals I could find...offered them their greatest ambitions...I don't understand…"** Almost lifelessly, he walked over to look down at Shen's body.

And then he suddenly found some energy. Screaming in rage, he kicked the corpse again and again. " **Filthy! Mortal! Bastard! Nobody cheats me!** _ **Nobody!"**_ Ignoring the many threatening snarls echoing from above, he leaned down and placed his hand on Shen's chest. The onlookers could only watch in horror as his fingers became dark tendrils that burrowed into his body, emerging with a small white orb that glowed faintly. As he glared down at it through suddenly slitted eyes and bared much longer teeth, his claws grew as well, threatening to pierce the orb if he squeezed too tightly **.** " _ **I hope you haven't forgotten that I OWN you now! You won't be seeing the Underworld, Shen, but I'll make you wish you had! And when I'm done with you, you'll be BEGGING to make another deal!"**_

"Wow. I can't believe I ever took advice from you. You're pathetic." Yinying turned around and was immediately nailed in the face by the same green fist that had already ruined his night. The bat screeched as he was thrown back into a pile of rubble. Kai flexed his fingers in satisfaction. "Been waiting three days to do that. I'll let you know if the payoff was worth it."

Yinying placed a hand to the ground to steady himself, and as he did, it returned to normal. His usual calm eyes focused on the yak again. " _ **Our**_ **business is over, Mr. Kai. For my humiliation today, Mr. Shen's expenditures will be far worse than death, and there is nothing you can do about it."**

"Please, I don't care what happens to that prissy bird. In fact, I'm pretty sure I hate each and every one of you." Despite that, he couldn't help but look down at the body again, his fists clenched tightly. "What I _do_ care about is the thrill of battle and the glow of victory. And I ain't feeling a glow. Shen was the greatest adversary I've had for a looooooong time, and now I've been copped out of my prize. Because of _you!"_

" **You'll forgive me if I'm not especially touched. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pencil in a very serious** **disciplinary meeting with Mr. Shen's eternal soul."** Juggling the soul with one hand and smirking sadistically, Yinying slowly sank back into the shadows, this time for good.

"I can't believe this…" The Chief Gorilla shook with barely-concealed fury. "We're really just going to stand here and let that monster take Shen's soul?!" It was all he could do to keep from leaping down there himself, skeletal structure be damned if it meant Shen _wouldn't_ be!

"There's nothing we can do." The Soothsayer was conflicted, a part of her pleased with Shen's act of selflessness, but it seemed no good deed truly went unpunished. For one who had suffered so much already, could she rest easily having pushed him towards this path? "Oh, Shen...I'm sorry."

"I know we're all really upset about this," said Mantis, who didn't look at all upset, "but shouldn't we be worrying about what we're going to do about Kai now?"

Shifu stiffened. "I'm not sure how to answer that." He pointed his staff back into the crater.

Yinying had made it only halfway into the ground, prevented from going any further by a chain wrapped around his waist. "Yeah, you're not going anywhere," Kai said bluntly. "I want to make a deal."

"What?" the Soothsayer whispered.

"What?!" The Chief Gorilla yelled.

"WHAT?!" the entire army surrounding the crater chorused.

" **...What?"** Yinying rose back out with no further prompting. He cleared his throat. " **Well...that is an interesting proposition, Mr. Kai. What are your terms?"**

"Simple. You and me, right now, my collection against yours, winner take all."

He faintly noticed that everyone looking down at them was now gaping openly, jaws dropped in every direction. Yinying blinked a few times...and devolved into laughter. " **You're** _ **joking!**_ **You narrowly avoid losing all of your souls and you just throw them right back in the pot again? Astounding. Even after all this time, mortal stupidity** _ **still**_ **manages to surprise me!"**

Kai tugged on the chain roughly. "Are you taking the deal or not?"

" **Of course I am."** He could barely hide his grin. " **But fair warning, I won't be stringing you along like I did the panda. This time, I'm playing for** _ **keeps."**_

"Neat. I only have three conditions."

His smile faltered only slightly. " **Name them."**

Kai raised his hoof, ticking off on his fingers. "One, that little white ball fights with me."

Yinying glared at Shen's prone soul distastefully. " **I can't say no to an early bonus. What else?"**

"Two, we both get healed up beforehand. There's no fun in kicking around a crippled guy. I should know."

" **Debatable, but regardless, I accept."**

"And three, we're not doing it here. Way too messy and I can't stand crowds unless they're constantly chanting my name." He pointed up at the peanut gallery, who still couldn't believe this was even happening.

" **Then where do we settle this?"**

"I've got a place in mind. Now do we have a deal?"

Yinying stared at him intently, as if trying to put together a puzzle he couldn't find all the pieces for. " **Why are you doing this, Mr. Kai?"**

"Do you really care?"

" **...No."** Still bound up in chains, he wiggled his finger a bit and summoned a contract anew, listing the exact terms Kai had listed. There was no need for subterfuge this time. " **You may sign when ready."**

A pen materialized in Kai's hoof and he stepped forward, lowering it towards the parchment.

"Wait!" Shifu shouted after him. His voice was getting a bit hoarse from having to yell at _two_ stubborn villains today. "Do you really think this is a good idea?! What do you think happens if you lose?!"

"I think it's not my problem anymore. Now shut up, Mom, I'm busy." Not even looking back, Kai signed his name onto the contract.

" **Excellent,"** Yinying said gleefully. " **Then we may proceed, Mr. Kai."**

"Glad to hear it." He raised both hooves into the air. "GET BACK HERE, GUYS!"

All across Gongmen City, the immobile jombies turned back into pure chi energy, flying off into the crater and back to their master. It was the most amazing light show the city had ever seen, a pretty impressive feat for the birthplace of fireworks.

"No, seriously, I feel like we should be doing something about this," Mantis urged.

"Master Shifu, what's our plan?" Crane asked. "Should we try to take him out now while he's distracted?"

"We've got him surrounded," the Chief Gorilla added. "If the entire army attacked at once…"

Shifu was almost considering doing just that, but against all logic, something stopped him. "If we do that...Shen will be lost forever."

"And you think _Kai's_ going to give him back if he wins? I've served Shen faithfully for a long time, but even he wouldn't take that kind of risk."

"But Po would." Shifu sighed, wondering when his student started affecting him this much. "And if Shen is fighting too, I can now put my faith in his judgment as well. For the fate of hundreds of souls, we will have to leave it up to them."

Mantis nodded. "Yep. We're doomed."

Finally, the last of the chi was reabsorbed and Kai restored to full power, fuller than he had ever known with the addition of Po. Now it was time to get the rest. He waved his hoof, opening a shimmering green portal in front of him. With a wave of his arm, he flung Yinying and what was left of Shen through it, but hesitated to jump in after them.

"...Why _am_ I doing this?" Confusing even himself, he finally entered the portal.

Then it closed, sealing away the outside world completely.

* * *

Shen felt himself floating blissfully in nothingness. It was much like his last brush with death, except the blissful part, but he knew it wouldn't last. Yinying was quickly going to realize how badly he had screwed him over, and when he did, Shen would pay for it dearly.

So it was really quite astounding how little fear he felt. He didn't regret his decision in the slightest, despite how much he had just lost, and even felt happy with himself for the terrible predicament he'd put himself in. It was very peculiar to say the least. Was this because of how many lives he'd saved? Was this what good people felt like after doing good things? He supposed he could get used to it, not that he had the time. If anything, that was his only true regret.

That, and he'd never get to hear the blubbering panda thank him for his sacrifice. Not him, or anyone else. It would've been an amusing sight to be sure. Pity.

Through the void of nothing emerged a sudden bright light. _Oh, here comes the cliché. Nice try, Yinying, but you're not getting my hopes up here. Now let's see what you've got…_

And then he opened his eyes.

His suddenly very corporeal eyes.

And he could already feel the rest of his body joining the party.

He...wasn't dead? No, he _distinctly_ remembered being dead this time. Besides, there was nothing in the mortal world that could possibly compare to what he saw now.

He was on a floating rock, which already signaled to his scientific mind that something wasn't right, surrounded by a sea of similar platforms in an endless expanse of gold. In the distance, he could see man-made structures like roads and temples that didn't quite seem to mesh together, like they all came from vastly different regions and were just shoved together by the powers that be. He couldn't very well mistake a place like this for anything else; he really _was_ in the Spirit Realm now.

But why? He certainly didn't deserve the VIP afterlife, especially not after selling his soul to a demon. For that matter, where _was_ Yinying? A part of him wondered if this was still just some cruel joke from the shadow demon before beginning his eternity of torture.

He looked down at what passed for his body now. None of the damage he'd just taken was visible, his plumage as bright and vibrant as the day he was born. Nor did he feel the slightest bit of pain or fatigue. He doubted he would be hungry anytime soon either. But he still had his white robes and he still had his guandao...for _some_ reason. Since this was a place for great warriors, maybe they were just allowed to keep their weapons? Seemed a bit counterproductive to eternal peace in his opinion.

"You're a spirit warrior now. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

His unexpectedly bright mood instantly darkened again. If this _was_ a joke, then Yinying had especially lousy taste because Kai was here too. Almost the instant he saw the yak, the sky around them changed color to a sickly green, its atmosphere becoming more oppressive. He was clearly far less surprised to be here, which already irked him. "Heya, Shen."

" _Heya, Shen?"_ he asked incredulously. "That's all you have to say? What are you doing here? What am _I_ doing here?"

"That's a bit of a long story…" He idly checked their surroundings. This must have been some twisted kind of nostalgia for him. "But the short version is that I've made another deal with Yinying."

Shen's reaction was remarkably like everyone else at the time. "You did _what?!"_

"Well, I felt kinda cheated by how that all ended and wanted a do-over, so I brought us both here for an epic rematch. Except we have to beat Yinying first, and if we lose, he claims both of us forever." He said that last part as nonchalantly as the rest.

"That was supposed to be a noble sacrifice, you bloated idiot! How many of those do you think I'm known for?! And now, you've just negated all of it!" He tried to ignore the fact that he was criticizing the same trait he'd exploited to defeat Kai in the first place. He and irony had never been on the best of terms.

"Don't need to sound so grateful," Kai said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, I did just save your life…"

"You _ended_ my life!"

"But I saved your afterlife!"

" **That has yet to be determined."**

"It wasn't _about_ me! I was trying to do something decent for the world for once!"

"Since when?!"

"Since I started looking in on myself a little more! But I suppose _you_ wouldn't know what that's like when you haven't changed at all in literal centuries!"

"Hey, don't act like you know me!"

" **...Hello? I'm ready to begin now."**

"Why shouldn't I? You're the one who seems to think I'm so much like your turtle friend!"

"Don't bring Oogway into this either!"

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot about your borderline homoerotic obsession with him! Pardon me!"

"Oh, you did _not_ just go there!"

" **You are seriously not making this any better for yourselves."**

"Maybe you're right," Kai growled, unchaining his swords. "Maybe I _should_ have just left you to your fate!"

Shen raised his guandao in response. "And maybe _I_ should have sent you to yours! You want your rematch so badly, here I am!"

"Fine with me! It's not like _I_ care if you live or die! I was just trying to spite that jackass Yinying anyway!"

" **A-HEM!"**

Both peacock and yak stopped and turned their heads, seeing Yinying floating above them. "About time you got here," said Kai.

" **This is going to be easier than I thought…"** he muttered, descending to their level. " **Welcome, gentleman, to our team-building seminar! I must say this is a fitting choice of arena, Mr. Kai. No better place to end than where it all began."**

"You're acting rather smug," Shen noted. "I bet you weren't so composed after I went and died on you."

Kai snickered next to him. "There's the understatement of the dynasty."

" **Water under the bridge,"** Yinying replied dismissively. " **How can I stay mad about a bum deal when you've given me an even better one? Oh yes, this way is** _ **so**_ **much less complicated."** He clapped his hands together, smiling openly at both of them. " **In fact, you two might just be my new favorite clients."**

"Do we get a prize?" Kai asked impatiently.

" **Actually, yes. I'm going to share a trade secret with you."**

"Oh boy, I can't wait," Shen drawled.

Yinying gestured down at himself. " **What you see before you...isn't the real me. It's what we in the industry refer to as a 'PR form'. We use it to conduct deals so as to appear far less intimidating than we actually are. It's not good for business when your client wets himself at the sight of you."**

Kai went from snickering to full-on, mocking laughter. "Right, we are sooooooo afraid of the Underworld's scrawniest demon! I've already seen a glimpse of the 'real' you, and frankly, I'm not impressed."

" **Oh, but as you well know, just a glimpse at a contract is not enough to discern its true meaning.** _ **You have to read between the lines."**_ His eyes and fangs shifted once again, his claws already growing rapidly and his voice becoming more manic. " _ **And now that we're enacting a transparency policy, I have a bit more to disclose."**_

"Gah!" Shen flinched, making Kai laugh harder.

The shadows began to flare up around Yinying, engulfing his brown fur with oppressive black. " _ **Every day I have to deal with mortals like you complaining about their petty little problems, pretending that I actually give a damn up until they sign the dotted line. I've become quite talented at it, you know. And yet, both of you have somehow managed to get the better of me."**_

The shadows were covering him entirely now, leaving only his eyes and fangs glowing out of the darkness. He fixed those eyes coldly on Shen. " _ **YOU, a pampered princeling who lashed out because he couldn't get Mommy and Daddy to love him!"**_

"HEY!"

"Okay, he kinda has a point there," Kai admitted.

" _ **And YOU, a washed up soldier desperately trying to compensate for how much he's pining over a dead turtle!"**_

"Seriously, it wasn't like that!"

Yinying hunched over, seemingly from the sheer weight of the shadows piling on top of him, building around him. " _ **You have the audacity to call yourselves evil? Compared to ME, you're nothing but children squabbling over your toys! But you've left quite a mark on my job performance, to be sure, so I can't afford to take you lightly anymore! Prepare yourselves...because this corporate body is about to experience some unexpected gro-!"**_ A chi-infused boulder plowed into him, knocking the formless dark blob over the side of the platform and into the abyss.

Shen turned to see Kai casually dusting off his hooves. "What? Like _you_ weren't sick of listening to him talk."

He looked uneasily over the edge. "Be that as it may, I'm fairly certain he was in the middle of some kind of transformation there."

"Pfffft! Who takes like five minutes to transform? He was kinda asking for it."

Before Shen could respond, he felt a sudden chill. "Ugh, is it always this cold?"

With his thick mane, Kai wasn't much bothered. "Not really. I didn't know temperature was even a thing here."

"How about _that?"_ Shen pointed.

Now it was starting to grow darker as well, the green sky fading into a deep purple, black clouds swirling through the ether. "Alright, that's _definitely_ not normal."

"And is it just me, or do I hear something that sounds vaguely like latin chanting?"

"Pretty sure that one's just you."

Shen paused. "Wait a minute, I've heard about something like this." Through one of his lonely sessions in the royal library most likely. "They say the Spirit Realm changes in appearance and atmosphere based on its most powerful influence. I _thought_ that filthy green was too low-class for divine masters."

Kai snorted. "I've never heard anything about that."

Shen gaped at him, again. "You've lived here for five hundred years!"

"And I've been the most powerful influence for five hundred years."

" _ **NOT ANYMORE."**_

A massive clawed hand gripped the edge of the platform, covered in pitch black scales. Behind it, a long, serpentine body began to emerge, with four thick limbs, a pair of batlike wings, and a tail that ended in a very scythe-like appendage. Atop his head were two wickedly curved horns that surpassed even Kai's, and around his neck was a much larger version of his bead necklace, from which a particularly sinister aura emanated. He glared at them through large, slitted eyes, a long tongue sliding across his deadly fangs. The dark dragon that towered over them now was well and truly pissed.

Kai slowly raised an arm and pointed at Shen. "He did it."

The dragon's eyes flared up dangerously. " _ **I'M RELIEVED. FOR A SECOND THERE, I WAS WORRIED I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU EQUAL SHARES OF SPITE!"**_ He reared back and unleashed a plume of dark fire at them.

They leapt back reflexively as the fire blackened the entire platform they were standing on, falling down onto a much larger one below it. As soon as they were on stable ground, Shen wasted no time snapping at the yak. "What was _that?!_ I thought we were supposed to be in on this together!"

Kai was quick to recover. "Just...took me by surprise is all."

Shen smirked. "Don't tell me the _mighty_ General Kai has never fought a dragon before."

"How different do you think things were back then? There's no way I could've expected…" He stopped, a distant memory coming back to him like it was just yesterday, but it was technically _two_ days ago. "Dammit, I forgot. Your nanny totally called this."

Shen looked awkwardly between him and the giant, soul-hungry dragon demon now crawling around the rock towards them. "The Soothsayer predicted _this?"_

"Kinda. You weren't in it though."

"Of _course_ it was all about you," Shen said dryly. "Did she at least see who wins?"

"Uh...no." Another blast of fire came for them. Kai quickly cut through the base of a nearby column, which fell directly in front of them and blocked it. "But it's clearly us! Come on, after all we've been through, we're not gonna lose to an overgrown salamander!"

Kai's pep talks needed work. "Says the one overflowing with pure chi. I'm just a sickly, now _dead,_ peacock."

The yak furrowed his brow, as if that were some great revelation. "Oh right. After how much trouble you've given me, I forgot you're kind of a wimp."

"Fully demonstrating how I so easily outwitted you."

Another wave of fire struck the column. " _ **WHAT'S WRONG? STARTING TO CHOKE UNDER THE PRESSURE?"**_

"Okay, I have a plan. You go out there and distract him while I-"

"NO!"

"I'm trying to be strategic for once, you could at least let me finish!"

Another blast struck. To their horror, they realized that this hellfire was actually withering away the stone shield. It couldn't take much more.

Kai sighed to himself, coming to a difficult decision. "Look, I'm only doing this because I'm beastly enough as it is and I don't want you slowing me down." He stopped Shen from objecting by placing a firm hoof on his shoulder.

"What do you think you're-AH!" Shen gasped as a sudden rush of power came pouring into him, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. For someone told since birth that he'd never be as fit as his peers, Shen now felt like he could do anything at all. It was the most incredible thing he'd ever experienced, and after the last three days, that was saying a lot.

Even when it was over, Shen needed a few seconds to recuperate, trying not to explode from the sheer force of it. "There. Now you're _almost_ as awesome as me," said Kai. "But don't get used to it."

Was this what Kai felt like _all_ the time? If so, he almost couldn't blame him for being so insufferably arrogant about it. He couldn't even manage a decent comeback. "A-Alright…"

Yinying glared at the downed column. They still had not emerged yet. It was almost disappointing. " _ **IT'S ALWAYS HARD TO SAY GOODBYE TO GOOD CLIENTS. BUT DON'T WORRY, WE'LL KEEP IN TOUCH."**_ He reached up and stroked his necklace, which made a noise that sounded an awful lot like the wailing of the damned, then blew another plume of fire.

But instead of turning the pillar and its occupants into unholy ash, Shen and Kai leapt out and rolled to each side to dodge, then drew their weapons on hovered above them, his large wings flapping hard enough to create a stiff breeze, but not budging either one of them. " _ **WELL, WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE THIS FUN FOR ME AFTER ALL!"**_

"Your personal enjoyment is not at the top of my priority list," Shen spoke calmly in spite of being massively (and literally) overshadowed. "But I do have to thank you. Even if it wasn't your true intention, you gave me exactly what I wanted, Yinying. A second chance, and real friends to enjoy it with. Unfortunately, you're now standing in my way of that, and there's one thing about me that _hasn't_ changed." He pointed his guandao up at the shadow dragon's neck. " _Nothing_ stands in my way."

"And that goes double for me!" Kai added. "But only that last part. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm still doing this for entirely selfish reasons, but I'm not letting _anyone_ tell me what I can and can't do! Predictions? Destiny? I don't care about any of that crap! The future is _ours_ to decide!" He too pointed his twin swords up at Yinying. "AND THAT FUTURE STARTS WITH KICKING YOUR BIG SCALY ASS!"

Shen looked over at him, nodding. "Impressive. Up until the end there, that was _almost_ insightful."

But Yinying was not amused. The dark dragon roared, his fire shooting haphazardly into the air. " _ **THAT'S IT! SCREW THE PR, SCREW POLICY, AND SCREW YOU! YOUR ASSETS ARE MINE!"**_

He lashed his tail and charged at the duo. Shen and Kai readied their weapons and charged back.

* * *

 _So remember when we said this thing would be 25 chapters total? Yeeeeeeeeah...more like 26. And remember when you all thought last chapter was the climax? Yeeeeeeeeah...also not the case. In video game terms, Kai was the fake final boss, but by fulfilling all of the requirements for the redemption ending, Shen (and Kai) now get to fight the true final boss: Hei Yinying himself._

 _This is a scene I've wanted to write for a looooooooong time, long before Mind Jack officially joined on, as you can probably tell by the callback to Kai's prophecy. Truth is, Yinying was originally intended to be a dragon from the get go, but since I wanted to show him off more, and because I've wanted to use a bat character in KFP for way too long, I made the "PR form" for him too. As a character, he's pretty much a mishmash of Shen and Kai's worst traits, in that he's both a ruthless manipulator and also has a ton of raw power at the expense of others, along with being pure 100% evil instead of various shades of tragic villain. So to say this is going to be a fun battle to write doesn't quite do it justice. Between this and a certain lucha match, there's going to be a lot of fun action in our future. Hope you'll stick around for it. ;)_


	25. When Evil Collides

_In all of last chapter's excitement, we forgot to mention one very important detail: Shen vs. Kai has officially passed the mighty 100k milestone! No word count filter shall evade this story now! (Technically, it may not have QUITE been 100k when you remove the author's notes, but it certainly is now.)_ _And it's on this momentous occasion that we prepare for the REAL final battle: the Lord of Gongmen and the Maker of Widows vs. the Shadow of Death. FIGHT!_

* * *

 **Chapter 25: When Evil Collides**

They all attacked at once. Shen stabbed up with his guandao and Kai swung both swords at Yinying, who likewise aimed punches at each of them. The latter was a lot more impressive when coming from a giant dragon. Shen and Kai were both struck, skidding back along the lengthy platform.

Not ones to give up, Kai immediately countered by throwing his blades back at him and Shen charged again from the side, leaping up and gliding towards him with newfound speed. Yinying contorted his long body back and raised a single arm, catching both of Kai's chains with no effort while the chi energy within caused nothing more than a slight sizzle against his scales. Smirking down at the yak, Yinying yanked him off his feet like he was nothing more than a cheap flail and swung him back into the airborne Shen, tossing them both away again.

Still in midair, Kai threw out chains to each side, wrapping around two semi-broken columns, and kicked off of Shen to hurl himself back at the demon. As he did, he formed a ball of chi between his hooves and shot it, point-blank, at his face. "EAT THIS!"

 _ **"** **TERMS ACCEPTED."**_ Yinying opened his mouth and did exactly that, with about as much discomfort as someone trying a particularly spicy pepper. Kai was so flabbergasted that he forgot he was still flying directly towards his face until the dragon literally belched his own attack back at him. _**"** **AND ONCE AGAIN, THEY COME BACK TO BITE YOU!"**_

Kai fell to the ground, both scorched and a bit woozy. "Ugggh, who knew the essence of life could smell like death?"

A second later it was forgotten, for Shen landed on his head and sprung himself off just like Kai had moments before. His guandao poised and ready, he stabbed it straight into Yinying's belly. Or so he intended. To his shock, the polearm went directly through him and out the other side, but Shen's spirit warrior body didn't, smacking right into Yinying in a very undignified fashion. "What…?"

 _ **"** **STILL NOT UP TO QUALITY STANDARDS, MR. SHEN?"**_ He quickly pushed himself away as Yinying reached for him, rushing for his dropped weapon. _**"** **NOT SO FAST, I STILL HAVE TO GIVE YOU YOUR**_ _ **SEVERANCE PAY!"**_ Yinying's scythe-tail stabbed into the ground repeatedly behind him, only his enhanced speed and perception allowing him to make the journey as he moved like a blur between each attack. He leapt to avoid one more stab, grabbed the guandao as he flew over it, then spun himself around to face his foe. Yinying made no move to strike again, his tail still stuck in the ground in front of him. Shen charged forward and slashed at the appendage, the effort proving just as useless as before. _**"** **YOU KNOW, THIS ROUTINE IS STARTING TO FEEL *REALLY* FAMILIAR…"**_

In the midst of his frustration, Shen only just noticed that the dragon's tail was not stuck after all. It had simply phased into the ground...and the tip had now emerged behind him. Shen was struck hard in the back with the blunt end of it, nearly dropping his weapon again as he was sent back to whence he came.

Kai took this time to leap onto Yinying's back and plunge both swords into it. The dragon hissed loudly, flying upwards and smashing him into another floating rock above them, which shattered from the impact. Kai groaned, shaking it off. "Is that the best you-?" A particularly large rock landed on his head, this time dislodging him.

Naturally, he landed right on Shen again. The bird was remarkably unhurt, another benefit of his new powers, but he wasn't too happy about it right now as he shook his guandao in rage. "What is _wrong_ with this thing?!"

"Idiot, your body is pure chi now, but your weapon isn't!" Kai growled, stepping off of him roughly. "You gotta infuse that power _into_ it!"

"How?!"

"Really don't have time for a lesson at the moment!"

Yinying chuckled darkly, slitted eyes traveling from one spirit warrior to the other. _**"** **ARE YOU *SURE* YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING EACH OTHER ANYMORE? THESE NEGOTIATIONS SEEM RATHER HOSTILE. TIME TO IMPLEMENT A CONTAINMENT STRATEGY!"**_ He once again reared back and breathed hellfire at them, but this time was different. The fire hit a few feet in front of them, then spread out in two directions around the surface of the platform, creating a ring of fire that was now closing in on them.

Shen and Kai stood back to back, searching for a way out. Every way was blocked and trying to jump out seemed unwise with Yinying right there watching them. "I've got it!" Shen yelled. "Cut us through the ground again, like you did back in Gongmen!"

"Just so you know, I meant for it to happen like that."

"Just _do_ it!"

Thankfully needing a much smaller circle this time, Kai thrust his swords into the ground on each side of them and spun quickly. They just managed to drill through the thin surface before the fire closed in.

Of course, this now left them falling haplessly into the great unknown below, screaming a war cry (in Kai's case) and a furious squawk (in Shen's). On the bright side, there was a good chance they would never hit terminal velocity in a place like the Spirit Realm, but that was a small comfort when Yinying was already bearing down on them again. And it would be much harder to dodge fire in freefall.

Both warlords realized this and reached for their weapons. Shen grabbed a firework bomb and tossed it up at the incoming Yinying just as Kai threw another sword at him. Individually, neither attack was likely to do much to him, but it made for an interesting result when they collided just before hitting him. The bomb exploded prematurely, creating a blinding flash of light in the shadow dragon's face. Roaring in pain, Yinying veered off and crashed into another floating rock, but he wouldn't be slowed for long and they were still sitting ducks out here.

"There!" Shen called out, pointing a wing at a nearby structure. It was some kind of ancient temple that had seen better days, but would serve as a decent enough shelter. Wondering why he was even bothering to help Kai out, he extended his train and glided to the building, entering through a broken window. Wondering why he was even bothering to take advice from Shen, Kai tethered a sword to another rock and swung in after him.

Unfortunately, it was often the burden of the brains to realize what needed to be done. "Did you see that?" Shen asked, peering cautiously out the window. No sign of pursuit...for now.

Kai shook an extraordinary amount of dust off of himself. His landing had been much less graceful and softened with several pieces of old furniture and shattered pottery. "Which part? You smacking into Yinying's belly or getting blindsided by his tail?"

Shen fought down the urge to stab him. It would be somewhat detrimental to his point. "We don't stand a chance going at him by ourselves. As much as the thought makes me want to vomit, we need to fight as a team."

"I don't need your help!" Kai snapped quickly. So quickly it came across as an automatic response on his part.

"Oh _really?"_ Shen stepped towards him, eyebrow firmly raised. "Then _why_ , pray tell, did you even involve me in this farce? If you're such a supreme 'badass', why not just take on Yinying alone and keep all of your fancy chi to yourself?" He would've been angrier, except for the fact that he really _was_ confused. "Why didn't you just-WATCH OUT!"

Shen roughly kicked Kai across the room, which nearly ended any chance of an alliance in record time, until a giant, scaly fist phased through one wall and pulverized another. It took up so much space in the small room that they were forced to hunch up against the remaining walls, trying to get their collective heartbeats back to normal rate. And they weren't even sure if they _had_ heartbeats.

 _ **"** **MY APOLOGIES. AS MUCH AS I ENJOY YOUR INCESSANT BICKERING, I COULDN'T HELP BUT INVOLVE INTERNAL AFFAIRS."**_

Shen looked back out of the window that was now behind him. There was still no sign of Yinying. He watched the fist retract into the wall, which suddenly seemed a lot darker than it should be, and understood. Yinying was already inside the building, in the most literal sense possible.

Kai stood poised in front of the looming shadow, swords pointed outward. "Try that again, buddy, I dare ya." Yinying's foot came out of the ceiling and stomped him through the floor.

 _Good gods, I'm trying to WORK with this fool?_ Nevertheless, he stabbed at the foot, turning it incorporeal, then jumped through the hole after him.

The floor below was even deeper and darker, but a lot more roomy. They were in some kind of ornate hallway, surrounded by crumbling columns and ripped portraits. Shen found the drop softer than expected and saw that divine karma had made him land on Kai this time. "Don't suppose you're convinced yet."

Kai lifted his head with the bird still sitting on it. "That you're really starting to get in my way? Uh... _yeah!"_

Even in this darkness, Shen could spot a much blacker silhouette creeping down the wall towards them. "We don't have time for this! Just get us to higher ground!"

"I don't take orders from you!"

Like the Soothsayer in his younger years, he pulled the yak's ear forcefully to his beak. "DRIVE!"

Kai took off running down the hall just as two giant hands clapped together behind them. Struggling just to hang on to the stampeding bovine, Shen looked back and saw Yinying's shadow racing after them, his head emerging from the floor and snapping at their backsides. "Faster!" He drove his talons into Kai's side, literally spurring him on. Under the circumstances, the yak was no longer protesting.

 _ **"** **AHHHH, THIS BRINGS BACK MEMORIES. THE SIGHT OF MORTALS FLEEING IN TERROR NEVER GETS OLD."**_ He pulled back just slightly, now opening wide to show purple fire building within.

"Left!" Shen yanked hard on Kai's horns, steering him out of the way of the incoming plume. But Yinying didn't let up.

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Jump!" A few of those crumbling columns had just crumbled into their path. The jump slowed them just enough that they came down on top of Yinying's nose, shoving him back into the floor as they finally reached the end of the hall and broke through a set of wooden doors.

It looked like some semblance of luck was finally on their side as now a staircase was in front of them. Kai sprinted up it without order. "Ha! Suck it, Dragon Breath! Hey, Shen, maybe we should keep working together like this! What do ya think?"

Shen's eye twitched violently. _Let it go, Shen. It'll be easier this way._ "Good. Idea."

They emerged outside, heading up another small flight of steps onto the roof of the temple. It was a relatively even surface, long and rectangular in shape, and lined along each corner by tall, pointed spires.

And floating between two of them was Yinying. The demon lounged lazily on his side, still floating in midair. It was as if he'd been waiting for an eternity, even more insulting coming from someone who'd actually lived a few. Shen and Kai simply nodded to each other and entered their stances, ready to confront him as a unit this time.

If anything, that only amused him more. _**"** **SO YOU'VE REACHED A RESOLUTION. FINALLY. UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I *ALSO* BELIEVE IN EQUAL PARTNERSHIPS."**_ He pointed a claw across the rooftop to the opposite side, where an identical shadow doppelgänger of himself was mirroring his position. The second Yinying flew over to the first, exchanged a firm handshake, then returned to its original position. _**"** **I HOPE YOU WEREN'T UNDER THE DELUSION THAT YOU HAD SOME KIND OF ADVANTAGE NOW."**_

"Okay, _teamie,_ now what?" Kai asked, if only because he couldn't decide which one to hit first.

"Don't bother with the phony. He's just trying to distract us. Stay focused on the real one."

 _ **"** **GOOD PLAN. NOT SURE WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ABOUT THAT ONE."**_ The two Yinyings rose high above them and began to circle each other, getting faster and faster until it looked like their heads and tails were fused together. It also made picking them apart much harder than it should have been. Shen and Kai watched in apprehension, staying on guard. Claws and fangs bared, the dragons suddenly charged across the rooftop in unison.

Shen got the real Yinying, jumping to avoid his charge and running across his back. He only made it halfway before the tail swung up at him again and knocked him off, completely ignoring his attempt to stab it. This was getting ridiculous now. For all the extra power he'd gained, he was still just a bird fighting a dragon without his weapons. Even the metal talons on his feet phased through him, so he didn't give Yinying so much as a good back scratching. "Kai! I need to know how to control chi!"

The yak had a much easier time, simply raising his swords as the dragon doppelgänger struck, cutting it in two as it passed by. Not that he was particularly satisfied either when it just reformed again seconds later. " _Now?!"_

The dragons turned around and charged again. "Unless you expect me to win by pecking his ankles off with my super-powered beak, yes, _now!"_ This time, it was the shadow dragon that came for Shen, opening its jaws wide and swallowing him whole.

Kai sidestepped the real one and landed a slash to his cheek, splashing purple blood in his face as Yinying seethed. Now _that_ was more like it. "Okay, okay, I'll give you the short version," he said, oblivious to the muffled screams of rage behind him. "It's all connected to your emotions, you see. You can't just wave your arms, well, _wings_ , around and except anything to come of it. You gotta _feel_ that fire burning within you! Show some passion!"

The screaming got louder as the shadow Yinying amused itself by repeatedly slamming its belly into the ground. "Yeah, just like that! Oh geez!" He swung a blade through the dragon's neck just as it was about to impale itself on one of the surrounding spires, freeing a very disgruntled Shen who tumbled to the ground. "So, did ya catch that?"

"Mostly," he grunted. "But I'm plenty livid and that doesn't seem to be helping me."

"Nah, I used to make that mistake too. It's not _anger_ you need, you just have to be really serious about what you're striving for. Me? I've been bent on brutal revenge and showing the world I'm the best thing ever for five hundred years and still going strong. What do _you_ want most right now?"

 _ **"** **DO BE CAREFUL, MR. KAI,"**_ Yinying mocked overhead. _**"** **HIS ANSWER IS LIABLE TO CHANGE IN THREE DAYS' TIME."**_

Shen lifted his head and glared up at him. "It's called a change of perspective."

 _ **"** **IT'S CALLED DIGGING YOURSELF DEEPER. AND *THIS* IS CALLED A SCORCHED EARTH DEFENSE!"**_ The two Yinyings raised their necks to the sky and let loose their hellfire. The purple streams collided in the center and exploded outwards, raining dark embers down upon the rooftop. _**"** **OR WAS IT OFFENSE?"**_

"Incoming!" Kai raised his arms and created a shimmering barrier of chi over both of them. The embers battered against it, making it flicker with each attack. Even Kai knew it wouldn't hold for long, and the surrounding area was already going up in flames. "Sink or swim, Shen! I need you to help me reinforce this!"

He had learned kung fu in much the same way. What did he want most? The answer came quickly, lucky for them. "I want my second chance back. I want my city. I want my army. _And even that stupid panda!"_ He raised his wings and channeled that righteous passion into the barrier. It shimmered brightly, and for a second, he thought that it was about to burst, but as he saw a tinge of red mixed in with the green, it was clear that it had worked. After all, this was how he had picked up so well on kung fu.

The shield held out, but when the firestorm came to an end, Shen knew he didn't have much time to act. He could already feel this surge of emotion fading fast. He sprung up and aimed a kick at the same spire he had nearly been shish kabob'ed on, breaking it off its support and into his wings, focused as much energy as he could into the thing, then hurled it straight at the real Yinying as hard as he could.

It carried a light, reddish glow for about half a second, then disappeared, leaving a perfectly ordinary piece of rock to sail harmlessly through Yinying. _**"** **BET YOU'RE GLAD YOU DIDN'T THROW YOUR WEAPON."**_

"DAMMIT!" If anger _could_ control chi, he'd be unstoppable.

Kai was just as confused, which only annoyed him further. "Huh. To be fair, I _did_ say that was the short version. I think there's also some spiritual junk about being yourself or whatever."

"How did _you_ learn it?" he asked bitterly.

"Plenty of time to practice."

 _ **"** **'** **TRIES SO HARD, BUT SUCCESS JUST KEEPS SLIPPING FROM HIS GRASP',"**_ Yinying mused. _**"** **THAT IS MY PERFORMANCE REVIEW OF YOUR *LIFE*, MR. SHEN. BUT SINCE I DO BASE MY ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL OFF OF SECOND CHANCES, LET'S MAKE THIS INTERESTING AND GIVE YOU ANOTHER SHOT."**_ He reached backwards and flexed his claws. The stone spire far behind him stopped in place and reversed direction, zooming past Yinying again and embedding itself back in the rooftop in front of them. _**"** **NOW BE SURE TO GIVE IT YOUR 110% THIS TIME. WE WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO WASTE-"**_

Shen kicked the spire back at Yinying without so much as looking at it. "I don't need any more of your _deals_ ," he hissed.

The dark dragon made no move to dodge; he could already tell there wasn't a speck of chi on it. _**"** **WELL, I TRIED. DON'T SAY I'VE NEVER BEEN A GOOD SPORT, MR. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIGH!"**_ He let out a choked gasp, looking down in shock at the spire now impaled through his serpentine body. _**"** **H-HOW?!"**_ He looked down a bit further and found his answer: a chain loosely wrapped around the end of his tail.

"Can't say I've ever heard of a Mr. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIGH!" Kai smirked, playfully tugging on the other end. "Is he a new client?"

This even got a chuckle out of Shen. "While I would have rather done it myself...that was worth it."

Yinying grabbed for the chain, but Kai yanked it away first. The dragon growled, coughing up purple blood and swaying side to side, considerably weakened.

"So is he dying yet? Frankly, this battle is really starting to _drag on_. Eh? Eh?" Kai nudged Shen, expecting a reaction to what he clearly thought was a brilliant joke.

If this was a part of being buddy buddy with Kai, Shen was no longer sure he wanted this. "When you're done making a fool of yourself, for the time being, look at Yinying."

The demon continued to grunt and gasp, wrapping a clawed hand around the spire. With a mighty yank, he pulled it out of him and tossed it aside. While normally not a wise thing to do with stab wounds, he didn't seem particularly worried, moving his other hand to close around his bead necklace. A series of agonized, blood curdling screams echoed out of the artifact, coming from so many different voices at once that the sound was nearly deafening. As if that wasn't disturbing enough, they then had to watch that gaping hole in Yinying's body start to close up by itself, bone, muscle, and sinew all fusing back together as if nothing happened. Even the minor cuts Kai had inflicted before were shrinking away. A few seconds later, all of their efforts up to this point had effectively been undone. _**"** **NOT A BAD HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN, EH?"**_

"THAT IS SUCH BULLSHIT!"

"Pot, I believe Kettle has a message for you. Would you like to hear it?"

 _ **"** **DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD ENTER THIS CONTEST WERE I NOT ENTIRELY CONFIDENT I'D COME OUT ON TOP?**_ " Yinying asked, relishing in the frustration he'd caused. He really _wasn't_ too different from Kai in that regard. _**"** **JUST LIKE THAT PANDA OF YOURS,**_ _ **IT APPEARS YOU STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE DEMONS OPERATE. FOR INSTANCE, WHERE DO YOU SUPPOSE THE OTHER ME RAN OFF TO?"**_

They paused, looking to each other for an answer. Indeed, the fake Yinying had inexplicably disappeared some time ago. That mystery lasted only as long as it took to feel the sudden rumbling beneath them. "JUMP!" they both shouted, advice neither of them needed, lifting off the ground a second before it shifted violently and sprung up after them. The other Yinying lifted the roof from underneath and flipped it over in a foiled attempt to topple them. The surface made a full 180 degree rotation and landed back in the shadow's hands, leaving Shen and Kai to land back on what was formerly a ceiling. The result made their current battleground look more than a little like a giant table, albeit one missing a leg. The platform continued to rise, leaving its home far behind, until it now occupied a space almost totally isolated from any other surface, the doppelgänger staying in place to hold it up.

Shen pondered for a moment why the laws of gravity suddenly applied to _this_ platform and not so many others. His brain nearly imploded from the effort and he promptly disregarded it.

 _ **"** **MR. SHEN AND MR. KAI,"**_ Yinying purred maliciously, seated at one end of the "table". _**"** **YOUR DISCIPLINARY HEARING IS NOW IN SESSION.**_ _ **YOU ARE FORMALLY CHARGED WITH BEING A PAIR OF RIGHT ASSHOLES. HOW DO YOU PLEAD?"**_

"Guilty."

" _So_ guilty."

He probably would have banged a gavel if he had one. _**"** **THEN YOU ARE HEREBY SENTENCED TO EXECUTION, WHICH WILL BE CARRIED OUT BY A JURY OF YOUR PEERS!"**_

Shen furrowed his brow. "I've heard of that legal system and I don't think that's how it works."

"And the only 'peers' _I_ have are dead men," Kai added. "Present company included."

 _ **"** **EXACTLY."**_ Yinying clutched his necklace with both hands, making it glow brightly. _**"** **COME FORTH, MY YES MINIONS!"**_

One by one, a series of contracts appeared around him, spreading out and surrounding the entire platform. There had to be hundreds of them, and given how long Yinying had been around, only because there wasn't enough room to fit thousands. They all opened at once, each marked with the signature of a doomed soul, calling forth a dark presence from within Yinying's necklace. Streams of black shot out of the beads, each one hitting the surface and taking on the silhouetted shape of a past debtor. They came in a wide variety of species, including some neither of them had ever seen before, yet they could barely be told apart, their individual features all blending together in the sea of shadows and blank, purple eyes. Raising what vaguely looked like weapons, the Yes Minions shambled listlessly towards them, monotone voices droning.

" _Must obey Master."_

" _Must serve Master."_

" _Must agree with everything Master says."_

" _Must sacrifice dignity and self-worth to appease Master."_

Unnerved, Shen took a step back and raised his guandao, useless as the gesture might be. _**"** **YOU SEE, MR. SHEN? I DON'T HAVE TO BE A SOOTHSAYER TO SHOW YOU YOUR FUTURE."**_

Kai was less impressed. "What, you're just ripping me off completely now?"

 _ **"** **I CAME FIRST!"**_

"No…" Shen said, listening to the continuous voices surrounding them. "These aren't the same as your 'jombies'. There's something different about them."

"You mean that they can talk? Big deal, I like 'em better quiet anyway."

 _ **"** **ASTUTE AS EVER, MR. SHEN. WHILE MR. KAI'S SUBORDINATES WERE MERELY SOULLESS HUSKS ANIMATED BY CHI, MINE ARE THE VERY SOULS THEMSELVES, THEIR CHI SAFELY STORED AWAY FOR MY OWN USE."**_ He tapped the beads of his necklace for emphasis. They shimmered faintly with a golden glow that was quickly extinguished. _**"** **AND THUS, A LIABILITY BECOMES AN ASSET. VERY EFFICIENT, DON'T YOU THINK?"**_

"That's sick!" Surprisingly, that outburst came from Kai. "You're not even giving them a chance to put up a fight if you hog all the chi like that! Great warriors should _never_ be handicapped in battle!" Shen stared at him, unsure if he should really be surprised or not.

 _ **"** **IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER, MOST OF THEM WERE NEVER 'GREAT WARRIORS' TO BEGIN WITH. THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF MORTALS WHO DESIRE A SECOND CHANCE, AND THE STRONG ONES AREN'T NEARLY AS PROFITABLE."**_

Shen almost gasped. Looking closer at the minions, what little he could make out didn't seem anything like fierce, undead murderers, just relatively innocent civilians being used as puppets and meat shields. The thought hit uncomfortably close to home. But Kai was just as incensed, and that _did_ surprise him, if only because of how much it _didn't_. The yak had never been interested in killing those who couldn't fight back. "Correction: that is sick _and_ wrong _and_ I think I actually have a problem with that!"

The demon shrugged. _**"** **IT'S QUANTITY OVER QUALITY, I ADMIT, BUT AT LEAST *I* GIVE THESE SOULS A WORK-SANCTIONED BREAK EVERY NOW AND THEN. I PROVIDE BENEFITS, ETERNAL LIFE INSURANCE, AND EVEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT. LIKE SO!"**_ He swung an arm forward, pointing at the two spirit warriors. _**"** **FIRST ONE TO RECRUIT THESE MORTALS GETS A RAISE...FROM THE DEAD!"**_

The Yes Minions, who had been in no rush to reach them before, now charged eagerly at the duo.

" _Must show initiative."_

" _Must think outside the box."_

" _Must overshadow coworkers."_

Kai's unexpected pity for these beings did nothing to stop him from attacking them. In fact, he was now even more determined to get them out of his sight. His chain blades cut through swaths of the shadow spirits at once, destroying them with barely any effort. The only ones that came close were a horde of spiders far too big to have grown that way naturally, who leapt for him all at once and were wiped out by a single, rippling shockwave of chi. The yak looked even smugger than usual, hooves pulsating with an energy that said, "Who's next?"

Shen once again had a bit more trouble. Since getting his weapons to hold any kind of chi charge was still a crapshoot, he settled for the old-fashioned method of simply punching and kicking any who got too close. It was all that he needed as they went down pitifully easy, so much so that he used this opportunity to practice. Shen whirled around and stabbed his guandao into a freakishly tall mouse, concentrating as hard as he could on how much he wanted to _end_ Yinying. The weapon glowed bright, but only for a second, which was more than enough to impale the strange being on his weapon and purge him. If these were the kind of second chances these people signed away their souls for, he was starting to become less sympathetic.

With every minion vanquished, their corresponding contract rolled up and disappeared, only to be quickly replaced by another, again and again. _**"** **SUPPLY AND DEMAND, GENTLEMEN. I'VE GOT A VERY GENEROUS SURPLUS HERE."**_

"Gods, shut _up_ already!" Kai yelled, vaporizing a skinny hippo with a chi blast. "I don't even understand half of what you're saying anymore!"

"To be fair, me neither." Briefly distracted, Shen hissed as a shadowy hand grabbed his wing, sending a sharp chill through his body. The offender was a snake. "Gah!" He kicked it away and watched it burst into a ball of light, but he could see now where this battle was heading. Even if they couldn't tire physically, these beings could still harm them, and with a seemingly endless supply, Yinying had once again put them on a time limit. "Incidentally, we may want to consider an actual plan here."

"You wouldn't be saying that unless you had one already, so out with it!"

Shen watched another batch of Yes Minions vanish, return to Yinying's necklace, then get promptly replaced. The source of the problem was quite obvious. Dodging away from an air-breathing fish that flopped after him, Shen leapt onto Kai's back again and whispered to him. "If we get close enough, do you think you can suck the chi out of that necklace?"

Kai held himself back from flinging the bird off. "Heh, I'm up for any plan that benefits me. Think _you_ can handle the journey?" Already, the path to Yinying was blocked with a few dozen Yes Minions and counting.

Under the mocking edge, Shen could sense a smidge if genuine concern, which was the only thing keeping him from snapping back at him. "We'll use a diversion. Of the living jade statue variety."

"Uh uh, no way. I can't afford to use up any more of my chi right now. These guys aren't worth the jade." He was nailed in the chest by a gorilla that seemed to be literally made of stone. "Ow, my soul! Fine, but only one!" He sent a sword through his head and kicked the boulder away.

An emu flew down at Shen, only to be cut away by a swinging chain. The idea of hiding behind Kai like this was really starting to get to him. "Then use one that's good enough to keep up! Like Oogway!"

Kai scowled. "No."

"Then that Tai Lung one! I'm really not picky!"

"It's pronounced 'Taiwan', and I've got a better idea." Their numbers finally growing too large to easily dispatch, the Yes Minions banded together and jumped them both at once, a faint green spark emanating just as they were buried under a pile of blackness.

" _Must destroy mortals."_

" _Must take all credit for destroying mortals."_

A massive explosion knocked the minions back in every direction, some falling over the edge of the platform while others hit the floating contracts and were destroyed by some demonic confidentiality clause. One small cat barely clung to the edge by its fingertips. " _Must hang in there."_ Shuddering a bit from the lingering effects of their touch, Shen and Kai were now joined by a new jombie. He was large, round, and probably would have shouted "Shakabooey!" had he been able to.

Kai could already feel Shen glaring at the back of his neck. "What? I thought you'd appreciate this."

Shen had to concede that a silent, obedient version of Po _did_ have some appeal, and his kung fu skills were nothing to sneeze at either. "Oh, alright. He can stay."

 _ **"** **OH YES, LET'S BRING IN THE IDIOT PANDA I ALREADY MADE A FOOL OF ONCE BEFORE. SURELY, *HE* WILL TURN THE TIDE. AND SPEAKING OF TIDES..."**_ In a matter of seconds, a new army of Yes Minions arose all around them. Some of them they were pretty sure had already been up.

" _Must improve on previous shortcomings for more effective job performance."_

With barely a command from Kai, jombie Po charged into the advancing horde and extended his arms, clotheslining them on each side. "Hey, he kinda reminds me of me," Kai chuckled. "I see why you like him."

"The resemblance is not lost on me. Now if we could get back to…?"

"Oh yeah, right." Kai threw both chains, cutting through a multitude of shadows in the process, aiming for Po. Sensing his intentions, the jade panda curled himself into a ball and allowed the chains to wrap around him. Kai roared loudly, as he was still a bit on the heavy side, and pivoted on his hooves, swinging the panda around like a giant green meteor hammer. With every rotation, dozens more fell, and he continued to pick up speed. The Yes Minions just kept coming anyway, but it no longer mattered when Kai abruptly released his grip. Freed from the chains, Po was flung spinning, with ironic resemblance to a cannonball, into Yinying's face.

The dragon was suddenly a lot less amused. _**"** **WHAT THE HOME?! GET OFF OF ME, YOU PLEBEIAN!"**_ Jombie Po was as much of a rebel as the real one, squatting on Yinying's nose and raining punches into his eyeballs. The demon reared his head back and shot fire up at him, which glanced off of his soulless body with no effect whatsoever. Except that it seemed to inspire him to grab Yinying by the nostrils and yank. _Hard. **"** **GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**_

"NOW!"

Shen and Kai charged in unison, their path to Yinying now clear. One particularly ambitious shadow jumped in front of them, an elephant with an Indian tassel hat and a regular nose. " _Must make big moves to get ahead."_ A simultaneous slash from both spirit warriors cleaved his form in two. Shen made it to the goal first, doing a flying kick into Yinying's stomach. There was a flash of light from the impact and the dragon doubled over just slightly. It was enough for Kai to jump up, over his head, then turn around to wrap his chains around Yinying's horns, tethering himself onto his back much more firmly than before. "Now come to Daddy." He reached one hoof out towards the necklace and pulled.

The beads jiggled around, the chi within being called towards him. He strained and pulled harder, trying to take even a smidgen of that power. Yinying halted his efforts by simply reaching up and pinching the ornaments still. _**"** **YOU THINK IT'S GOING TO BE THAT EASY?! THE TERMS SAID 'LEGAL AND BINDING' AND I *MEANT* IT!"**_ He finally shook Po off of him, stomping him hard into the ground before he could get back up. _**"** **SOME DRAGON WARRIOR HE WAS. NOW LET'S DISCUSS WHY YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD-HEY!"**_

A pair of glowing knives flew at his chest, severing the thick strings that supported his necklace. The artifact fell off of Yinying's neck, missing the platform and hurtling into the abyss. He looked over at Shen, who was now holding a half dozen more in his wings that glowed steadily. "I figured it out."

Yinying hissed and shot downward, ignoring both him and the yak still clinging to his horns. He aimed himself at the falling necklace and flew after it, quickly gaining on it. Seeing this, Kai released one chain and threw it further ahead. "If that thing is keeping all the chi from me, I'll just have to break it!"

Yinying's slitted eyes widened and he extended his arm, reaching out to the necklace telepathically and moving it out of the way. He did this again and again as Kai kept slashing at it, growing increasingly more panicked in the process. _**"** **STOP UNDERMINING MY AUTHORITY!"**_

"How about I undermine your _face!?"_

Pulling the necklace away once again, Yinying maneuvered it in a wide arc to circle back around to him, only to make another detour when a few more knives flew past it. Swooping after them on his own, admittedly less impressive wings, Shen closed in to join them. Yinying's tail lashed out at him and Shen parried it with his now fully-charged guandao. He got his opening when Po belly-flopped past him and grabbed the tail in a submission hold. "That'll do, panda. That'll do."

Shen flew over towards Kai and stabbed the guandao firmly into Yinying's back. He smiled at the scream of pain this elicited. "You were right, Kai. But it wasn't about what I want, it's what I _need._ Regrettably, that seems to have become a desire to save these hapless strangers."

"Ouch. Tough break." Another toss, another miss. "AND SO IS THIS! BREAK, DAMMIT!"

"Good news. I have another idea." Without even waiting for a response this time, Shen tightened his grip on the guandao and kicked Kai hard in the back with both talons, catapulting him towards the necklace. The yak was only slightly belligerent about this, realizing that he was indeed in a very good spot to catch it now.

Yinying realized it as well, and in the midst of taking a deep breath, also realized that even hitting him now wouldn't guarantee the safety of his beads. For a second, he was actually afraid he might lose this wager, but he hadn't gotten this far in the industry by giving up when the chips were down. In this business, it was all about finding the right opportunity.

"Almost...there!" Kai once again ignited his hind hooves to get that extra boost. The necklace was so close he could almost touch it now, his fingers reaching out to grasp it. He came within inches of the prize when Yinying abruptly rotated his head in the opposite direction and let loose his hellfire.

Shen never saw it coming. Engulfed in a flaming, yet chilling inferno that burned away at him from the inside out, he wasn't even sure if he screamed as he fell from the dragon's back.

But he did, and Kai heard him, his fingers just barely scratching the necklace when they jerked back at the last second. "SHEN!"

He could see the bird spiraling downwards, completely limp, followed by a much more animated black fist plowing into his side. _**"** **CHECKMATE!"**_

Kai was knocked away from the necklace, which Yinying happily snatched back up, but that moment already felt like eons behind him. Neither the necklace nor its owner mattered to him now. All he knew then was that he needed to catch Shen and do whatever he could to save him. Just like...well, there was no point even pretending otherwise anymore, just like Oogway. "No...I won't let this happen again!" Steadying himself in midair, Kai aimed for Shen and launched himself at him, catching the bird and wincing from the dark embers still rolling off of him. Together, they landed on another large surface below.

It almost seemed redundant in a place like this, but they appeared to be in some kind of graveyard. Tombs and headstones of many varieties surrounded them like a small forest of stone and death. Each was assigned to a different late master, adorned with flowers, coins, and other objects of tribute. Were these merely replicas of what they were given in the Mortal Realm, or a place where such offerings were meant to pass over to the masters themselves? Either way, no one had been around to claim them for a long time, and Kai knew he himself was to blame for that.

But he cared even less than he usually would. All he was focused on now was keeping Shen alive...or less dead, however that worked. Unfortunately, his knowledge of healing mortal wounds was severely lacking, let alone the literally soul-crushing agony the bird was afflicted with now. His white feathers were almost completely charred black, yet his body was as cold as death. He shook him a few times, but Shen did not stir. His eyes were open, but staring blankly at him, with no acknowledgement he was even there. In any other situation, it might have been insulting. "Hey...come on, you birdbrain! Wake up! You don't get to borrow my power just to squander it! I know you're not _that_ weak! Wake up already! I'm not letting you go that easily! This is pathetic!" But even his touching and heartfelt words did nothing to help him.

For Lord Shen, the battle continued to wage not in the Spirit Realm, but within the depths of his own soul. Unsurprisingly, it was a pretty dismal place.

 _He saw himself emerging from an egg, with noticeably more effort than it took most peafowl. When he poked his head out into the world, he was greeted not by cries of joy, but screams of horror._

 _He was a few months old and laying in a cot. The family doctor was telling his parents that he was unlikely to live much longer._

 _A year passed and he continued to live anyway, but still remained bedridden. His parents were arguing about what to do with him._

 _He was five now, walking unsteadily on his talons beside the Soothsayer. His parents were nowhere in sight. He asked where they were, but the goat avoided the question._

 _At the age of seven, he was brought outside the tower for the first time. Only the Soothsayer and some royal guards accompanied him. He couldn't understand why the citizens looked at him so distastefully._

 _Now ten years old, he was confined to his room, a huge assortment of scrolls lining the walls around him. He wiped a small tear from his eye, forcing himself to keep reading. He told himself he didn't need anyone else._

 _By thirteen years of age, he knew almost everything about his family's royal lineage, without any help from the family. He could already feel the pressure to succeed mounting in him and wondered how he could possibly measure up._

 _At fifteen, he started kung fu training. After being beaten to a pulp in his lessons, Master Thundering Rhino told him that he should pursue other talents. He didn't know if he had any._

 _At seventeen, he began following in his family's fireworks industry. His first attempt resulted in an explosion that scarred his talons for life. His parents told him not to try again. He did anyway._

 _At twenty, he discovered an alternative use for the fireworks. It was a literal spark of hope in his depressing life, a spark soon extinguished by an overheard prophecy._

 _What came next were mere flashes. Screams, fire, pandas fleeing in terror, wolves running in pursuit, actions he once held so much pride in, but now were being used to torment him. And it didn't stop there. Shen relived his banishment, his years in exile, the cold and desperation, the hatred and ridicule, the worst defeats, the worst moments, the absolute worst memories of his life up until his untimely death._

 _Shen might well have succumbed to despair if not for what came next._

 _The flashes continued, but now they showed more recent memories. His anger over the Wolf Boss's jombification, his fear over the Soothsayer's seeming death, his sheer determination to take his city back. And then there was the panda, Po. There was a lot of him in here, and nothing about it was all that unpleasant. He didn't even see the part where he learned about the genocide and attacked him, as if that was completely irrelevant now. And through his stubbornness to change him, Shen saw his refusal to fire on his troops to kill Kai, his genuine care for the people of Gongmen, and ultimately, his choice to save them all from Yinying._

 _It was just as Po said. It wasn't the past that truly mattered, but what he chose to be now._

 _Shen chose to wake up._

The bird's eyes refocused, seeing a concerned Kai hovering over him. The dark sheen dissipated off of him, repelled by his inner light, leaving him as good as new. Still dead, but it was a start. "You can put me down now."

He didn't. Kai instead pulled him into what was generally referred to as a bro hug, the likes of which he'd already received from Po. He really needed to stop getting so close to people so much bigger than him. Unlike Po, he at least seemed to realize how foolish he looked and released him a second later. "I mean, yeah, sure, whatever." He dropped him, very roughly, to the ground. "Oops! Er...you still can't stand up yet, you weakling?!"

 _Was I this bad with Po? Oh dear, I was, wasn't I?_

The sound of loud, piercing clapping prevented any further argument. Yinying descended to their level, his necklace now firmly back in place. Shen could see his guandao still stuck in his backside, but if it was bothering him, he didn't show it. _**"** **IMPRESSIVE. THE *OLD* MR. SHEN NEVER WOULD HAVE RECOVERED FROM THAT BLAST. TO BE HONEST, A PART OF ME THOUGHT YOUR BRAVE SACRIFICE WAS JUST A FLUKE, BUT THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT ABOUT IT NOW. THE ENTIRE MAKEUP OF YOUR SOUL HAS GONE THROUGH A REORGANIZATION."**_

Shen staggered back to his talons, still a bit winded from the experience. "What a shame. For _you,_ that is."

The dragon smiled, wide and dangerously. _**"** **YOU MISUNDERSTAND. THIS IS NOT A LOSS, BUT A GAIN. NOBLE SOULS ARE ALL THE SWEETER!"**_

Kai was already back in his stance, trying very hard to pretend his moment of weakness had never happened. "Okay, that's it! I am officially _done_ with this guy! Shen, let's put him to bed for good!"

Shen raised a wing, and with powers even he didn't fully understand, called out to his guandao. The weapon wiggled and pried itself out of Yinying's back, making him hiss in pain, then flew into his waiting wing. "I sincerely believe nothing will bring me greater pleasure." He knew now that their opponent was not insurmountable. He had a weakness, and one they could exploit. All they had to do was get their hands on that necklace.

Yinying stared back, expressionless. This was much the same way they started, but even he could sense that the momentum was shifting. And he didn't like it. _**"** **I SEE. AND YOU THOUGHT I WAS JUST BEING IRONIC WHEN I CALLED THIS A TEAM-BUILDING SEMINAR. A LOT OF PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE HERE TODAY, GENTLEMEN."**_ He extended both arms in their direction, with a demonic smirk that put both of theirs to shame. _**"** **BUT I AGREE, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE WRAPPED THIS UP."**_

He moved his arms to each side, then down and around to form a giant circle. When it was finished, he violently pulled his arms apart again. It was like he had literally ripped a hole in the Spirit Realm, but not just any hole. Shen recognized the oppressive blackness inside as Yinying's very own pocket dimension, the one where he had unknowingly set all of this in motion. And now he wanted him back. _**"** **COME INSIDE MY CIRCLE OF TRUST!"**_

He wasn't taking no for an answer either, as this literal black hole was already sucking in everything around them. Hundreds of masters had been honored in this graveyard and their offerings were going to waste, ripped from their tombs and vanishing into the portal, and the tombs weren't far behind. This entire place and the memories it treasured were being erased before their eyes, which might have been more disheartening except for the fact that they too were being sucked in. Shen dug his metal talons into the surface, only slowing him down until he once again stabbed his guandao into it for leverage. If it weren't for the extra polish of chi, he was pretty sure it would have broken by now. Kai was using a similar trick with his own blades, though his much greater girth also helped.

Aiming to challenge that girth, jombie Po came soaring out of the sky once more, aiming a punch for Yinying's head. The dragon lashed up with his tail and knocked him back, just missing Shen as he hit the ground. The peacock could've sworn he saw the jombie shoot him a thumbs up before he was sucked away, once again forced to watch helplessly as he was absorbed into the black hole. There was a flash of purple and suddenly the pull grew even stronger. _**"** **AHHHHH, THAT WAS REFRESHING! IF MR. PO WERE A LATTE, HE'D KEEP ME AWAKE FOR CENTURIES!"**_

Shen saw Kai gasp and lurch violently beside him, but disregarded it. As much effort as it took right now, he glared at the demon. That proved to be a fatal mistake as he failed to notice a tombstone being ripped out of the ground behind him until it collided with his back. Shen was thrown into the air, leaving his guandao behind. He thought for sure that his luck had finally run out until he felt a chain wrap around his ankle. "Hey! What part of 'I'm not letting you go that easily' did you not understand?!" Kai shouted up at him. With only one chain to support himself now, he was being dragged, slowly but steadily, towards the gaping black maw. This didn't seem to concern him in the slightest.

Whipping around like a kite in a storm, Shen grunted and tried again to call his guandao to him. It worked just enough to get the weapon unstuck from the ground, but it flew past his grasping wings and into the portal. He hoped absorbing that at least gave Yinying a good pinch because now he was officially out of options. "Let me go, you idiot! Or else he's just going to drag us _both_ in!"

"Sorry, but that whole self-sacrifice shtick doesn't have the same 'oomph' the second time around!" Kai sounded almost playful, yet there was no mistake he was desperately trying to reel Shen back in, all the while losing more and more ground. By now, the two of them were about the only things left standing. "Also, it'd be really cool if you could climb yourself back down here!"

 _If that's how you want it._ Shen bent down, grabbing the end of the chain after a few tries. But instead of climbing it, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Between Kai, Yinying, and the environment being ripped apart around them, it was hard to stay focused, but if he could work in the middle of the Fireworks Factory with a bunch of howling wolves and exploding gunpowder, this should be no problem for him.

"Not sure what you're doing, but it's not what I told you to do! Can you even hear...me?" Shen did not climb down the chain, but something did. A greenish light tinged with red flowed from Shen's wing, down the chain, and into Kai. He knew what it was instantly: the very same chi he had lent Shen at the start of the battle, and a bit of his own for interest. But even knowing what it was did not prepare him to take it in. The yak stiffened with stunned disbelief. "Woah...is _this_ what it feels like?"

Shen didn't quite understand the surprise, but it was a moot point, as now that he had donated all of that chi, he was little more than a limp rag doll flailing around in the current. Thankfully, Kai at least knew how to put it to good use, planting a hoof and stopping their forward momentum. He pulled Shen roughly to his side and quickly chained the bird to his back. Humiliating, but effective.

 _ **"** **HOW PRECIOUS. THIS IS ALMOST STARTING TO BORDER ON INAPPROPRIATE WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR. I BETTER PUT A STOP TO IT NOW."**_ Yinying drew his massive hands closer, shortening the width and range of the black hole. But like any vacuum, this also focused its suction on the two spirit warriors.

Even with effectively twice the strength he had before, Kai struggled to remain rooted to the spot. "Come on...is that...the best...you've got?!"

 _ **"** **NO. IT'S THE BEST *YOU'VE* GOT!"**_

"The hell...is that...supposed to…?" And then Kai saw them. His jade amulets, the pride of his collection, were flying off one by one, into the belly of the beast. He laughed. "Ha! Joke's...on you! Until I...load 'em with chi...those are just...useless baubles!" Shen nodded wearily. Even _he_ knew that much.

So then why did Kai seem to be getting weaker? Even as he continued to boast, his movements grew more sluggish, and suddenly Yinying was pulling them in again. The suction too was getting stronger, and the dragon demon himself growing even larger now. _**"** **YOUR KNOWLEDGE IN THIS FIELD IS SORELY LACKING DESPITE YOUR EXPERIENCE. YOU OWN THE BODY, YOU OWN THE CHI, YOU OWN THE SOUL. THEY ARE ALL INTRINSICALLY LINKED. IT'S A PACKAGE DEAL, MR. KAI. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO CLAIM ENTIRE SOULS WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT?"**_

"S-Shut up...you...bat...dragon...guy…" Now even his insults were getting weaker. Shen looked over his shoulder and saw a flash of green. Another jade amulet, the most important of them all, was barely clinging to the string around Kai's neck. Kai noticed it at the same time and his eyes widened.

"NO!" They both reached for it at once.

And they both failed to grab it in time. Oogway's amulet tore off of Kai and into Yinying. The resulting power boost was so massive that he nearly doubled in size, enough that he could easily crush them both under a single toe if he wanted. He did not accept it gracefully. _**"** **NOW *THAT* HITS THE SPOT! NO OTHER DEMON COULD EVER HOPE TO TASTE THE GRANDMASTER'S SOUL, BUT I'VE DONE IT! LOOK AT ME NOW, ALL YOU BIGWIGS DOWN BELOW! LITTLE YINYING FROM ACCOUNTING HAS JUST OBTAINED SUPREME ULTIMATE POWER! THE ENTIRE UNDERWORLD IS GOING TO BE MY GOLF COURSE! BUT FIRST…"**_ Now barely even bothering to exude the effort, Yinying stared down at his two captives with one gigantic eye. _**"** **...I DO HATE TO LEAVE ANY LOOSE ENDS. A DEAL IS A DEAL."**_

Critically weakened, Kai could do little more than just stand there, stalling the inevitable. Yinying was in no rush to absorb them now, but they inched closer and closer to their demise by the second. "Hey...Shen?" Kai asked, taking great effort even to lift his head. "I...don't think we're gonna win this…"

Shen barely nodded back. "No. I don't believe we are…"

Kai expected something akin to his life flashing before his eyes to occur at that moment. It did not. Perhaps even that part of his brain no longer had enough power to function. All he could think to do now was keep himself from having any last regrets. Aside from losing, of course. "Then I just gotta say...you weren't so terrible to fight with. It was actually kinda fun. Shame we won't get to do it anymore."

"And you...weren't as much of an imbecile as I thought. You even taught me some things of your own. Indeed, it was fun while it lasted."

Yinying raised his hand, ready to sign off on this deal for good. _**"** **FAREWELL, MR. SHEN AND MR. KAI. I'D SAY 'REST IN PEACE', BUT I THINK WE'RE BEYOND DECEPTION. OH, WHAT'S THIS?"**_ The deserted wasteland this platform had been reduced to now had a few more guests. From the shadows of destroyed graves rose several figures that now approached the duo. _**"** **MY YES MINIONS HAVE CAUGHT UP JUST IN TIME. THE OFFER'S STILL OPEN, EVERYONE! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO NOW IS GIVE YOUR NEW COWORKERS A LITTLE PUSH AND THEN WE'LL CELEBRATE WITH AN OFFICE PARTY TO *DIE* FOR!"**_

The Yes Minions closed in on Shen and Kai, the latter sighing in resignation. "Welp, that's it then. See you on the other side... _partner."_

Shen managed a small smile. "You too... _partner."_

The shadows paused momentarily, then launched themselves at them. They closed their eyes and felt the icy bodies connect...but something was different this time. There was no pain, inside or out, and the shadows were disappearing on contact. Were they repelling them somehow? No, the truth was even stranger: the shadows were _entering_ their bodies.

Shen shook off his revulsion at that thought, focusing instead on what this meant for them. On that, he had no earthly clue, but as he continued to feel no ill effects, it became a pressing concern. "Kai, what are they doing?"

"I don't believe it…" the yak said breathlessly. "They're being absorbed by us... _willingly."_

Yinying was just as baffled. _**"** **NOT SURE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BUT IT'S NOT WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO. DON'T MAKE ME REVIEW THE SLIDES.**_ _ **"**_ He then noticed his necklace, shaking violently from all of the chi that now sought to escape it. " _ **WHAT?! NO!"**_

"Forgot already?" Kai asked, his smugness returning as swiftly as it disappeared. "It's all intrinsically linked, right? So maybe it's _you_ that needs a little push!" With what little strength he could still muster, Kai grabbed hold of the chi inside the necklace and yanked once more. With pressure from both sides, the beads finally began to crack, chi energy flowing through the seams. Like a magnet, it was drawn to its hosts within Kai and Shen, who apparently wanted nothing more than for them to have it.

The effect was instantaneous. All the energy Shen and Kai had lost was quickly being restored. Soon they would be able to fight again, and yet it just kept coming. But _why?_ Shen still didn't understand. The behavior of the Yes Minions made no sense...unless…it couldn't really be _that_ cheesy, right? "Perhaps these wayward souls have seen in us what you've denied them for so long, Yinying. Compassion, comradery, even friendship." Kai gagged loudly. "I imagine those concepts are as foreign to you as they used to be for me, so I'll put it a way you can understand: your former clients have just found a better offer."

 _ **"** **I WILL NOT BE OUTBID!"**_ Even as Yinying pulled away in protest, now it was him being forcefully drawn back towards the duo, chi continuing to pour from his necklace. A few beads shattered entirely, freeing some souls who didn't even know who these two were and just joined out of peer pressure. Nevertheless, Shen and Kai were growing exponentially more powerful, to the point that Shen now hopped off of Kai's back and mirrored his chi stealing technique. He wasn't sure if he was doing it right, but it didn't matter at the rate he was getting it anyway. As the souls continued to pile on, even their mantra began to change.

" _Must fight Master."_

" _Must destroy Master."_

" _Must be free."_

 _ **"** **YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"**_ Yinying screeched, despite all evidence to the contrary. _**"** **YOU ARE UNDER CONTRACT, YOU INGRATES! I GRANT YOU YOUR HEARTS' DESIRES AND *THIS* IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!"**_ The polarity had reversed completely, his black hole now little more than a stiff breeze to the spirit warriors opposing him. It shrunk even further, and Yinying along with it, until both had become three sizes too small for his liking. _**"** **YOU CUT THIS SHIT OUT *RIGHT* NOW OR NO MORE BENEFITS, NO MORE RAISES, AND LIN WONG, YOU CAN JUST *FORGET* ABOUT MATERNITY LEAVE!"**_ Yet still his souls fled from him in droves, perhaps even faster now. Screaming in rage, Yinying's mouth _and_ both of his hands began to glow purple. _**"** **YOU KNOW WHAT?! YOU! ARE ALL! FIREEEEEEEEEEEED!"**_ Three simultaneous blasts roared from Yinying and directly at Shen and Kai.

The resulting explosion was so massive that the desolate platform was destroyed completely, chunks flying every which way from a cloud of dust and debris. Yinying panted, trying to shake off both his anger and the drain of energy that had overtaken him. No longer could he give Godzilla a run for his money; now he was reduced to an even smaller form than he'd started with, and with but a few unshattered beads left to call upon. _**"** **HOW HUMILIATING. ALL THAT HARD WORK AND NOW I'VE BEEN DOWNSIZED? BUT NO MATTER. I CAN RECOUP THESE LOSSES. ONCE I CLAIM THOSE TWO MORONS, I WILL HAVE IT ALL BACK AGAIN!"**_

"Damn, I thought for sure he'd shut up after _that_. I guess I owe you twenty yuan, Shen."

Yinying froze, his mouth hanging open.

"I told you, fools like this never miss out on a chance to gloat. I know someone else like that I think you'd get along with."

He became aware of something else now. The sky around them was no longer a dark, oppressing purple. The sickly green that had pervaded the Spirit Realm for so long was back, except not quite as sickly anymore, and combined with a vibrant red. They shone brightly overhead, banishing the last traces of darkness from sight. It very effectively illuminated the scene of an apprehensive dragon demon and his would-be victims. Yinying looked back at the dust cloud as two figures floated out of it, each surrounded by an aura of their own color.

Most disturbingly, neither of them appeared the least bit afraid of him now. Instead, it was Hei Yinying who felt an uncharacteristic chill down his long spine. _**"** **WHAT *ARE* YOU?!"**_

Kai snapped his fingers in annoyance. "And that's another twenty for the cliché one-liner! You've really gotten this down, Shen!"

"More than I'd like to." Shen looked down at himself, briefly amused by the ability of true flight for the first time in his life. "Now then, I believe we all agreed to put an end to this. And that _includes_ all of my new 'guests'."

Kai flexed his arms, even he astounded by this level of power. "Seriously, I've never felt my collectibles so intuned with me before. Probably because we all agree on something for once. They're giving me a neat idea too. Wanna see something cool?"

"As usual, Kai, I am way ahead of you."

Both spirit warriors rose a bit higher and concentrated. Their auras extended out and around them, forming new shapes to contain the awesome power they now wielded.

Shen's red aura took the shape of a much larger bird, one whose entire body seemed to crackle and burn like a fiery inferno. This phoenix peacock took on Shen's distinct crimson eyes and decorated tail feathers, but was otherwise indistinguishable from the bird of legend. He extended his wings and let loose his cry, shaking embers around him in the process.

Kai's green aura became a natural quadruped like him, with sharp claws, jagged horns, and a face that could terrify children. Among their other similarities, the nian also had a dislike of fireworks and a propensity for eating people, though Kai at least was becoming more tolerant of the color red as of late. He reared his head back and roared just to see if he could, the spirit aura following suit.

Yinying had not budged since this whole spectacle began, and now realized that perhaps he should have, for the two mortals he had mocked and manipulated for so long were now substantially bigger than him. If he still had a collar, he would be tugging on it very nervously right about now. _**"** **EH HEH HEH HEH...GENTLEMEN? LET'S NOT DO ANYTHING RASH. SURELY, WE CAN RESOLVE OUR DIFFERENCES THROUGH NEGOTIATION? I'M CONFIDENT WE CAN REACH A SETTLEMENT THAT WILL SATISFY EVERYONE."**_

 _"OH, WE'RE GONNA SETTLE THIS ALRIGHT,"_ said Kai, admiring his new vocal upgrade. _"AND IT'LL BE *VERY* SATISFYING!"_

 _"YOU WANT THE FIRST CRACK AT HIM THEN?"_ asked Shen. _"FINE, BUT MAKE IT QUICK."_

Taking these words literally, the giant nian that was also Kai shot forward like a blur. **_"W-W-WAIT!"_** Yinying flinched, reflexively throwing up a shadow barrier to block him. He might as well have tried to block a flood with a wooden board for all the good it did him. Kai charged straight through the barrier and rammed into Yinying, throwing the dragon back until he hit another floating rock. Kai stopped in front of him and, mimicking the motions from inside the body, punched him repeatedly, knocking the demon's head from side to side. Dazed, he could do nothing to stop Kai from grabbing him by the horns and head butting him upwards, tearing them both off as he was catapulted away.

 _"ALRIGHT, YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH FUN. NOW IT'S MY TURN."_ Shen spread his fiery wings and took off after him. He struck Yinying in the side as he passed by, making the dragon corkscrew comically in mid-air while he took position above him. Shen clapped his wings, causing the phoenix to let loose a wave of fire that burned with the power of chi. Yinying gasped and flew higher to dodge it, but he wasn't fast enough to keep most of his tail from being incinerated clean off. Screaming in agony, he quickly blew out the flames on the stump that remained. _"DON'T BOTHER HEALING THAT. NO NUMBER OF SOULS WILL FIX WHAT I'M GOING TO DO TO YOU."_ Yinying turned to face Shen, but he was no longer there. The phoenix was suddenly above him now, landing a vicious drop kick to his back that propelled him downward again.

Kai was already waiting for him. _"TIME TO SHOW YOU HOW *I* TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS!"_ The nian lashed up and caught Yinying as he fell, bouncing him off of his back over and over again. After a few seconds of this sadistic rodeo, he bucked him away and kicked out with his hind legs, once again sending him into a rock. The sheer force of it wedged the entire top half of his body into the surface, leaving only his legs and stump tail sticking out of it.

Yinying grunted and tried in vain to pry himself free. _**"** **URRRGH! SHADOW ME, WHAT DO I PAY YOU FOR?! GET OVER HERE AND HELP!"**_ Holding a briefcase in one hand and tipping a hat with the other, the shadow Yinying turned and sped off for wherever it was that shadows took a vacation. _**"** **FINE! I STILL HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES TO FINISH THIS!"**_ There was another bright flash and a wailing of souls as Yinying's remaining reserves were used to restore his tail.

Shen was right there to grab it in his talons. _"DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU."_ Holding on tightly, he took off through the air, violently ripping Yinying out of the rock and pulling him along for the ride. With the demon screaming all the while, Shen circled the Spirit Realm as he ascended, making no effort to avoid the many floating rocks and structures in his path. Or rather, making no effort to keep his passenger from crashing into all of them. He finally reached the apex of his climb and now started flying in loops, picking up speed with each rotation until he finally let go, launching the dark dragon as a kinetic missile.

Still screaming, Yinying first hit the table-shaped platform he'd created, smashing right through it as well as setting fire to the many contracts still floating there, then down into the ruined temple it came from, ruining it even further and continuing to plow through, until he finally managed to slow himself down. By now, he was covered in purple blood, had two broken horns, torn wings, a mangled tail, and was just barely keeping himself afloat. That's when he saw Shen and Kai charging in from both ends. He sighed. _ **"** **I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE RETIRED AT 10,000…"**_

 _"NOW LET'S TAKE BACK OUR FUTURES!"_ they shouted together, simultaneously thrusting a flaming talon and a clawed fist into his chest. With a loud crack, what was left of Yinying's necklace now shattered completely, throwing his remaining souls every which way. Unsurprisingly, none of them stayed with Yinying, who was now shrinking even further. He screamed in rage, his booming, demonic reverb growing increasingly less so.

Shen and Kai had to pause just to stare in disbelief at the result. Yinying's original form was a dragon barely bigger than Po, and almost as chubby, with scrawny limbs, disproportionately small wings, and a high-pitched, squeaky voice. **"back to square one! damn you! damn you both!"**

It was remarkably hard to take him seriously anymore. Shen titled his head, and the phoenix did it with him. _"MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'M NEW TO DECENCY, BUT I STILL DON'T FEEL LIKE BEING MERCIFUL, NOT EVEN TO A CREATURE THIS PATHETIC."_

Kai snorted green steam through his giant nostrils. _"IT'S USUALLY NOT AS FUN TO KILL THOSE, BUT IN THIS CASE, I'M WILLING TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION."_

 **"you fools! you think this is** _ **over?!**_ " Yinying yelled, flailing his tiny arms at them. **"go ahead and destroy my body if that's what makes you feel good, but immortals are not so easily disposed of! i will live on, and i will have my revenge!"**

 _"YEAH, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT."_ Kai reached over and patted the dragon's head condescendingly. _"UNLESS YOU'RE PLANNING TO ANNOY US TO DEATH."_

 **"have you forgotten? this is but one of** _ **infinite**_ **universes, with** _ **infinite**_ **possibilities! all i have to do is find a less noble shen or a more focused kai, and my plan will go off without a hitch! you've only delayed my inevitable rise to power, and i can wait an eternity for it! do you see now?! even if it takes until the end of time itself… _i_** _ **will get what is coming to me!"**_ He burst into a long string of maniacal laughter. Shen and Kai looked at each other, trying to decide if they should just vaporize him anyway.

It was a problem that solved itself, for Yinying was so distracted by his own ego that he was completely oblivious to a blood red portal opening directly beneath him. He was not oblivious for long. A strange, eerie bell tolled from out of nowhere, bringing Yinying's laughter to an abrupt halt. His beady eyes slowly widened in horror. **"oh no..."** There was a low rumbling, and…something emerged from the portal.

It was some kind of black metal door. There were no adornments, no handles, no anything. It was just a smooth, metal sheet, separated in two by a small gap. The bell tolled again and the door slid open, the partitions moving aside to reveal a perfect square of impossibly crimson light. Nothing less than screams of eternal agony echoed from within it. **"** _ **MR. YINYING!"**_ a deep, commanding voice bellowed. **"** _ **THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS WOULD LIKE A *WORD* WITH YOU!"**_

 **"d-d-director diyu!"** Yinying stammered, drumming his claw tips together and flashing a very nervous smile. **"your hellish aura looks quite dashing today, sir, if i do say so myself!"**

" _ **SILENCE! YOUR FOOLISH AND SLOPPY WORK IN THE MORTAL REALM HAS DAMAGED THE GOOD NAME OF DIYU SOULS INCORPORATED! THE BOARD HAS DECIDED THAT DISCIPLINARY MEASURES ARE IN ORDER!"**_

Shen and Kai just stood there, not sure what was going on, but enjoying it immensely.

Yinying backed slowly away from the gaping hell portal. **"wait, i'm not being punished for trying to take over?"**

 _ **"** **NO. YOU'RE BEING PUNISHED FOR DOING IT POORLY. THIS BUSINESS LIVES OFF OF TREACHERY AND WE HAVE A REPUTATION TO UPHOLD!"**_ A hand that seemed to belong to a giant bull elephant shot out of the portal with immense speed. It was a shade of red only slightly darker than the portal itself, had sickly yellow fingernails the size of a mortal head, and was wearing some kind of black sleeve with a white cuff. Yinying gave a strangled gulp as he was snatched up by the fist. _**"** **YOUR FATE HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED! YOU WILL BE PUT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF ETERNAL TORMENT DEPARTMENT SIX!"**_

Yinying gasped, looking around frantically as if trying to find some method of escape. **"no! please! not department six! no! noooooooooooo!"** He briefly locked eyes with Shen and Kai, and on the demon's face was an almost pitiful expression. **"this isn't how it was supposed to happen…"**

And then he was yanked through, his cries of despair growing further and further until they eventually faded completely. The door slammed shut, vanishing back into the ether with one last toll of the bell.

This left Shen and Kai still just standing there. There were a few moments of silence before Kai said what was on both of their minds: " _WHAT. THE HELL. WAS THAT?"_

Shen looked down at the place where the door had been, which left no evidence it was ever there in the first place. " _EXACTLY."_

" _WELL, WHATEVER IT WAS, IT WOULD'VE BEEN *REAL* NICE BACK WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO EAT US."_

" _YOU HAVE JUST LEARNED A VALUABLE LESSON IN DELEGATION: NEVER DO YOUR OWN DIRTY WORK IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO."_

" _YEAH, YEAH...AT LEAST THIS WAY WAS A LOT MORE EPIC."_

" _INDEED. I WOULDN'T GET USED TO IT THOUGH."_

" _WHY?"_

On cue, their spirit forms shuddered and began to dissipate, the many souls that helped make it possible dispersing from their bodies. Shen and Kai were deposited onto one of the few solid platforms left in this area, looking up at the glowing orbs that floated away from them. "Aw, come on! I was just getting started with that mode!"

"Looks a bit like a fireworks show, doesn't it?" Shen asked, entranced by the sight like no fireworks show had ever done for him. "So...what are you going to do?"

"About what?"

Shen gestured to the fleeing souls. "By your deal with Yinying, you now own _all_ of them. You could have all of that power back and more. You would probably just have to invoke demonic law at them or something to call them back."

Kai stared off at the horde of souls. After a few moments of contemplation, he nodded to himself and raised his hoof in their direction. It glowed brightly for a second...then died down. "I'll pass. Look how well all that demonic law stuff worked out for Yinying. Last thing I need is my own power turning on me like that. Screw it."

 _Or do you just not want to claim me as well?_ "What about the rest of your collection? Will you release them too?"

He frowned. "Let's not get crazy."

A familiar voice chuckled from behind them. "Do not worry, Kai, you have already proven much." The two spirit warriors suddenly found that they were no longer alone up here. Another master had just joined them.

 _The_ master. "Oogway?" Kai gasped. The old tortoise was standing before them, smiling at him like nothing had happened at all in the last five hundred years. Kai reflexively reached for his neck, remembering too late that Oogway's amulet had been lost to Yinying during the battle. So when Yinying's necklace was then destroyed... "Well, this is awkward."

"Very," he said cheerfully. "But that is not why I am here."

Shen, who had only heard stories about the legendary grandmaster of kung fu, was nonetheless awed by his presence. He shook it off quickly. "Then what _do_ you want?"

Oogway just smiled and walked away, slowly, beckoning to them over his shoulder. "You wished to take back your futures, yes? I would like to discuss them."

Shen and Kai shared an uncertain glance, but with little room to object, followed after him anyway.

* * *

 _How's THAT for an epic-length chapter? The longest one in this story by far and we're still not done yet! Almost considered splitting this up, but that would be pretty cruel after already lengthening the story by one more chapter, so hope you enjoyed your new doorstopper. Definitely one of my favorite fight scenes, right up there with Po vs. Danzaburo at the end of Tournament of Legends. (Yes, after all that reading you just did, I'm now plugging another fic.) Be sure to let us know what you think. Next time we wrap things up and (hopefully) answer any remaining questions you have._

 _You've probably noticed the lack of a Born to Be Wilde update between these last two chapters. Simply put, this thing is so close to done that we're throwing caution to the wind and finishing it up. Hopefully, it won't take too long._


	26. A New Path Opens

_Here it is: the finale of Shen vs. Kai: When Evil Collides! It's the first fic I've managed to complete since the advent of getting a job slowed me down significantly, even after partnering up with my good buddy Mind Jack now. So this is a pretty momentous occasion for the both of us. Hopefully for you guys as well._

 _Now buckle down because it's time to end this thing!_

* * *

 **Chapter 26: A New Path Opens**

The next thing they knew, they were on a boat.

They weren't really sure _how_ they got there, but a few seconds into following after Oogway, just as Kai was about to predictably complain about the tortoise's speed, there was a flash of golden light and now they were seated in a wooden boat barely big enough to fit them both. It sat in the middle of a shimmering lake, floating towards a small island occupied by a single tree. It looked absolutely nothing like the area they had just been. Was this Oogway's home here? Certainly seemed dull enough.

The old master himself sat at the front of the boat, showing no reaction at all to the sudden change of scenery. He stared off at nothing in particular, then turned around to face them. "Comfortable?"

"It's a bit cramped actually," said Kai, awkwardly hunched over in the limited space. "Can we dock at that island over there?"

He chuckled. "I see you still desire that which lies beyond your reach."

Kai stared blankly back. "But it's right _there."_

"So it may seem." Oogway turned away, and suddenly the island was nowhere near them, a mere speck in the distance. "Or perhaps it is much further away than you expected."

Kai crossed his arms and huffed. "Okay, I get that you're making a point, but that was a dick move."

Shen leaned over to the disgruntled yak and whispered. "Was he always like this?"

"Yeah, but back then, it was sort of endearing."

"Thank you," the tortoise said, not even turning back around.

As privacy was evidently not going to happen here, Shen didn't bother to hold back anymore. "Alright then, you dragged us out here to discuss our futures, yes? So get on with it."

Oogway looked at him, his long neck titling curiously. "Is that what this is about? Your future? Your past? Or is it your present? I have a saying about that, you know…"

Kai stood up abruptly, shaking the boat a little. "I _do,_ and I ain't hearing it again! If you're not going to help, then I'm leaving!" He made to step out of the boat, but the second his hoof touched the sparkling water, he fell straight through, as if there were nothing there at all. With a shout of surprise, Kai disappeared beneath the surface.

Shen fell back into the boat, horrified. "Where did he go?!"

"Give him a minute," Oogway answered calmly.

Still laying on the wooden surface, Shen heard a faint sound coming from above him. Eyes wide, he quickly scrambled to the other end. Kai's scream became increasingly audible until the yak himself fell right back where he started, causing both Shen and Oogway to bounce comically into the air.

Kai was understandably freaked out about this, looking back and forth in confusion. Oogway smiled. "Welcome back." Kai growled and immediately made to try again. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. What do you think will happen if you miss the boat this time?"

He paused, reluctantly pulling his hoof back in and sitting down, even more bitter than before. "Happy now?"

"Peachy." He pulled a peach seemingly from nowhere and bit into it. "If I may ask, where exactly are you so eager to go, Kai?"

"Where do you _think?_ I'm getting outta the Spirit Realm and back to my conquest. I've seen enough of this place, and _you,_ for one lifetime."

"Indeed?" The tortoise didn't show any sign of being hurt by that comment. Then again, after Kai had attempted to outright murder him, Shen supposed the verbal jab wasn't that big of a deal. "I'm afraid you may find that rather difficult now. You've lost much of the chi you have stolen. The walls between life and death are not so easily breached, as you well know."

Kai stepped forward, pointing a blade at him. "Then it's a good thing I know how to break 'em."

Shen shifted to the side, swaying the boat again. It didn't exactly get him out of the way. "I don't think that's really a good idea right-" Kai lunged forward, sword swinging. Oogway's head disappeared into his shell to dodge the blade, and in the same motion, struck back with a single, open palm. Kai flew back and was thrown overboard once again.

Oogway waited a few seconds, then calmly raised his arm and caught him as he came back down, tossing him into the boat. Shen was forced to correct his earlier assessment; despite another attempt on his life, Oogway remained as jovial as ever. "Told you so. Another century or two and you might be able to manage it again."

Kai got back up, his body language undecided on whether he wanted to attack again or not. "No way! That's not fair!"

"Funny you should say that," Oogway remarked. "After all, it was your own choices that put you in this predicament. If you hadn't made that deal with Yinying, you wouldn't be sitting here now. If you hadn't released all of his souls, you would be able to do whatever you please. And yet you did. Can you tell me why?"

Kai turned his back to him, almost pouting. "I don't have to explain myself to you. Not like _that_ worked out last time."

"Fair enough. Perhaps _you_ would like to tell me, Shen."

"Hmm?" Up until now, the peacock had felt like a spectator to a lovers' quarrel. "You want me to explain your own partner's actions to you?"

Oogway shrugged. "He is not my partner anymore. He is yours."

 _You can't just lump him off on me like that, you know!_ "Well…I assumed he did it all for me. He didn't want Yinying to have my soul, and in the end, _he_ didn't want it either."

He nodded. "A good guess. You are, however, incorrect."

"What?!"

"Narcissist," Kai muttered. "You really thought it was all about _you?"_

"Hey, just heard from Kettle again. He doesn't think you got the message."

"I'm just saying, it's not that simple!"

"He is right," Oogway admitted. "If it were really just a matter of friendship, the events of five hundred years ago might not have come to pass."

Kai's head snapped around to glare at him. "Are you trying to blame that on _me_ again?"

Oogway ignored him. "The truth is, I believe Kai came very close to repeating history, and not just by saving you, Shen. He was sorely tempted to claim Yinying's collection for himself, but something stopped him. Something he had never experienced before. Didn't you notice it?"

 _Notice *what?* Does he think *I'm* a seer?_ Despite his protests, Shen found himself thinking back to the battle. What else had Kai done that stuck out? Actually, there _was_ something strange about the way he acted, but only now did he have the time to ponder it. He glanced over at the yak, who refused to acknowledge him. So be it then. Not like he needed his permission anyway. "Back when Yinying was trying to consume us, I returned the chi that Kai lent me, with some of my own as well. He was surprised by that, much more than I expected. I didn't understand why."

He saw Kai flinch out of the corner of his eye and at least knew he was on to something. Oogway nodded again, more firmly now. "I imagine he was surprised indeed. It was the first time anyone had ever _given_ him chi."

"Yeah? So what?" Kai asked defensively. "I was just surprised he didn't keep it for himself, that's all."

Shen wasn't buying that for a second, let alone Oogway. "Or is it that you were taken aback by how much greater the power you received was? I told you long ago the difference it makes, but I should have known that experience would be a better teacher than I. It is how you have always learned."

"And _you've_ always been so insufferably nosy about other people's business."

Yet he didn't deny the accusation and Oogway promptly went for the kill. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but what Shen gave you was only a pittance compared to the power you received from those wayward souls, wasn't it? Even _I_ can scarcely imagine the power. Wouldn't you like to feel it again?"

Shen winced. Leave it to Kai's old partner to know exactly what button to press. The yak glared viciously, but couldn't keep the act up for long. He finally sighed and nodded. "Just skip the lecture and tell me how."

"Very well. You need to release the rest of them, Kai."

It didn't take him long to understand what he meant. The yak's nostrils flared up in fury. "You can't be serious! After all this time, you really expect me to just leave it all behind?!"

"I did not say it would be easy," the tortoise mused, as much as his tone made it _sound_ easy. "You believe that by giving up your stolen chi, you are taking a step backwards, returning to a lesser state. But the opposite is true. As long as you continue to hold on to the past, you will be forever unable to move forward."

"He's right." Kai looked ready to go off on him again, but it was now Shen who stopped him. "Trust me, I had to learn that the hard way too. I don't want to go into details, but to put it simply, I would still be in a soul coma or worse if I was this stubborn about it."

For once, Kai was at a complete loss for words. Almost. "But-!"

"No! No excuses!" Shen interrupted. Seeing the yak as a former version of himself greatly helped the transition process along. "For all the value you put on your 'collection', it wasn't _them_ who helped us defeat Yinying, was it?"

"Okay, I get it! It was the other souls that helped us! That still doesn't-"

"No, you _don't_ get it!" the bird insisted, stepping closer to him. "Those souls would have been hopelessly bound to Yinying if not for us! _We_ are the ones who defeated him, and with nothing but our own strength of character, hard as that still is to believe! And if we can defeat a scary god demon, we can take down anything!"

"But that...I...you don't...dammit…" _Now_ he was out of words. Kai spent several more seconds trying to come up with a counter-argument to the assertion that he was awesome enough already, but his own ego didn't allow that, leading to a complete mental shutdown.

Oogway whistled, impressed. "You truly are my successor, Shen."

"Alright, fine!" Kai shouted. "If both of you are going to get so up on my case about it, I'll release the stupid chi! Not like I have much of a choice!"

There was no grand ceremony to it, no poignant farewell. Kai simply stomped up to the back of the boat and started throwing his amulets as far as he could one by one, some even skipping on the surface of the water. "GET OUT OF HERE, YOU PUNKS! SCRAM! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOUR LOUSY FACES AGAIN! PISS OFF!" Green flashes filled the sky as each master was freed upon impact, making for a solid follow up to the previous light show.

Shen backed away towards the front, looking back at Oogway. "I can't believe that worked."

He winked. "Of course it worked. He already knew what he needed to do. He just wanted to make it look like his idea."

 _Sounds familiar._ "Was he always like that?"

"Yes, but back then, it was sort of endearing." He paused. "Still is."

"It's frightening that I can agree with that."

When it was all over, Kai was left panting in exertion, both physically and mentally drained. "Seriously...can we dock yet?"

"As a matter of fact," the tortoise said, "I believe you have finally reached your destination." He calmly stepped back and over the edge, landing on the surface of the island that was now directly in front of them.

"Were all of these theatrics really necessary?" Shen asked, stepping off after him.

"Yes."

* * *

By now, the quiet pervading Gongmen City was becoming more unnerving than calm. With the opposing army literally disappearing off the face of the Earth, the war was effectively over, but the problem was not. Depending on what happened next, even those who didn't understand what was going on knew that it could mean dire consequences for all of them. This left the wolves and gorillas of Shen's army to wander restlessly around the city, unable to sit still.

Mantis yawned. "Never thought I'd say it, but this is getting kinda boring."

Shifu stopped in place, showing mercy to the poor cobblestones he had been pacing over for the past two hours. "Does waiting to see if a demonic madman gains total dominion over our friends and family bore you, Master Mantis?"

He froze up. "Well...it's either him or a bovine madman, right? I'm just saying I'm not that picky about which one we have to fight in the end."

Shifu glared. "Are you sure you've gotten over the effects of Yinying's fire? Perhaps you need another smack…"

Crane's pointed beak rose to the sky. "What if they were to take each other out?"

"Even by Po's standards, that is being too optimistic."

"Yeah, but…" He jabbed his beak upwards again.

At first, it looked like the people of the city were setting off fireworks for them. That, or a spontaneous meteor shower. The night sky was suddenly lit by hundreds of green sparks flying every which way. Many of them flew off over the horizon, but others came down right in the middle of the city itself. With each flash that landed, a former jombie was given flesh and bone once again.

The calm ended abruptly as mass of joy and excitement overtook the army instead. Several wolves and gorillas rushed to greet their restored comrades, throwing all sense of intimidation and dignity aside and pulling them into overjoyed arms, or in the wolves' case, tongues. The Wolf Boss got the full parade treatment, tossed up into the air again and again by his pack. "Wahahahaha! The alpha is back, baby! We're gonna party into next week over this one!"

"I hope that doesn't involve keeping the rest of us up with your obnoxious howling." The Chief Gorilla watched this display with a forced attempt at disgust, but he couldn't keep the grin off of his face. Not with his lost comrades returned to them again, even the mangy mutts.

"And what if it does? You gonna beat me with that stick up your butt?"

"Nah. Unlike you, I don't need a weapon to fight."

"Well I got news for you, pal! Neither do I! DOGPILE!" On the next catch, the wolves threw their alpha into the simian's face, the momentum making even him stumble. The other wolves wasted no time in joining him, piling on top of the Chief Gorilla and dragging him to the ground. "But you pick a fight with one of us, you pick a fight with us all!" The Wolf Boss laughed uproariously as he noogied the great ape.

"I've been pounding your skulls since I got here! It's not gonna be any different now!" He shouted back, just as playfully. The jumble of fur, fangs, and wagging tails wrestled like this for some time.

Watching this commotion from the sidelines, the Soothsayer laughed. "It appears some things never change." But would they be so joyful when they found out about Shen? If they knew what he had accomplished, they just might. It was a conversation they could have later. For now, no need to damper their spirits.

In the midst of all the excitement, it took Master Shifu a moment to realize he now had more than two students again. They found him quickly, but Monkey and Viper knew better than to try to pull him into a hug, so they targeted Crane and Mantis instead, the latter wrapped tightly in the snake's coils. "Ack! Starting to wish I _was_ made of jade now!"

"Master." Tigress was unsurprisingly a lot more subdued, simply bowing to the red panda, albeit with obvious pleasure that she couldn't quite hide.

Neither could he. "Tigress," he said, bowing back. There was a brief moment where they each wanted to initiate a hug, but were equally inept at doing so and instead just smiled at each other awkwardly. It was enough to convey the message for both of them.

"It appears Kai has been vanquished. Can I assume that Po has saved the day again?"

"In part, yes. But it was actually Lord Shen who saved us in the end."

"Really?" Her tone betrayed only a small amount of surprise. "I suppose it makes sense that one warlord should defeat another. It's how their type operates. So where is the pampered princeling now?"

He frowned slightly. "Dead. He sacrificed himself in the end."

" _Really?"_ Now she showed significantly more surprise. "And this was intentional?"

"Indeed."

"I see. Perhaps I was wrong about him…"

"Yeah, it was great!" Mantis said, squeezing himself out of Viper's coils. "He just stood there and let Kai strike him down all bushido style! You should've seen the look on Yinying's face!"

And now she was just confused. "Who's Yinying?"

"Shadow demon. Orchestrated this whole thing to get all of Kai's souls for himself. But don't worry, looks like he's gone now."

"Okaaaaay…" Tigress wasn't quite sure how to react to this. "What about Kai then?"

"Well, after Shen had Kai kill him, Yinying tried to take his soul, but Kai stepped up and stopped him, they made a contract for a final duel in the Spirit Realm, then they left and now we're here, so I guess they won. There was also some stuff about alternate universes and-"

"Forget it! I'm sorry I asked!" Tigress rubbed her suddenly aching head. "What did I _miss?"_

Monkey raised a hand, stepping off of Crane's prone form. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm lost too."

"Who cares?" Viper asked cheerfully. "It's all over now and we're all back together again! Let's join the celebration!"

"Wait…" Shifu looked around again. They weren't all together again just yet. "Where's Po?"

* * *

Kai was still sulking. He probably would be for some time. But when he recovered, Shen hoped it would be for the better. "So what about me?"

Oogway's long neck turned to look at him, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

He was almost afraid to ask. "I mean that I've died _twice_ now. Is there really any hope of being able to return from this?"

But as was his usual style, Oogway dodged the question with another question. "So you _do_ wish to return then? For what reason?"

"You mean _aside_ from not being dead anymore?"

"It's quite cozy here actually."

"I still have unfinished business to take care of. Isn't that kind of a mulligan with spirits?"

"So you would like to see Po again?"

He clenched his beak tightly. "I wasn't going to say that."

"I know." Oogway clapped his scaly hands together twice. There was a loud yell and now the panda was here, landing head first into the dirt by Oogway's tree.

Shen was less surprised than he felt he should be. "I suppose I should be thankful you didn't throw him in the water this time."

"You're welcome."

"Shen?" Po's voice was muffled under the surface, but unmistakably loud and energetic regardless. The panda gripped the surface with both paws and yanked his head out, shaking the spirit dirt off. With his eyes clear, he could finally see the peacock now. He instantly burst into a sprint, rushing right for him.

Shen knew what to expect this time and raised his sharp talons between them. "No hugs! I still have a reputation to uphold!"

Po stomped his feet into the ground and put on the brakes, skidding to a stop inches in front of him. At least _some_ of the laws of physics still applied here. "I knew you could beat Yinying! That was so awesomely awesome!"

For once, he wasn't sure if he wanted the audience. "You mean you saw that? How?"

"Not all of it. But when you started exploding Yinying's beads and I was floating around as some spirity soul thing, I saw enough. I told all the other guys, 'Guys, you need to help out Shen! He's really cool and will save the day!' And they did! And _you_ did! And-!"

Kai cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, uh, you did a good job too." Po backed a few paces away from the yak. It was at this point that he finally took his focus away from Shen and realized that he was in the Spirit Realm. With Grandmaster Oogway. "Oh my gooooooooooods! This is...and you're...and I...wait, does this mean I'm dead?"

"You _will_ be if you don't let out that breath," Oogway said gently. Po gasped and coughed, trying to steady himself. "The irony is that you were always fated to come here, but destiny has been a bit funny as of late. Or isn't it always?" The tortoise began to pace, seemingly inspired by his own wisdom. "In any case, you too had much to contribute to this outcome, Po. It was you who set Shen on this path, who in turn brought Kai around. You could have ended it sooner had you simply burned that contract when you had the chance, but then where would we be? Not here."

Po had almost regained his composure until that last part. "Wait, what?! Yinying said I would blow up the universe or something if I did that!"

"He lied. Demons tend to do that." Oogway remained calm, despite the shock and indignation his words had caused. "You think you can destroy a universe with a piece of parchment? Making a decision is easy, but erasing one not so much. Had you gone through with burning the contract, Shen's deal would have been negated, but the split universe he created will remain forever. Yinying knew this, and he also knew that you would never take the risk."

Po was unusually silent, taking this new information in. Shen watched him closely, not sure what to expect. But what he most certainly _didn't_ expect was for him to shake it off and take on a similar level of calm, smiling back at Oogway. "Okay then. That's fine."

"Are you sure?" the peacock asked. "Because I'm about ready to tell this charlatan where he can shove his divine insight."

"Trust me, it's not worth it," Kai grumbled from somewhere behind them.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Po said. "I mean, if I _did_ negate your deal, you'd just be back at square one, right? We wouldn't have met and you'd probably be burning in some dark pit of the Underworld instead of all this."

He shuddered. "When you put it _that_ way…"

"There is at least one other universe where you chose to destroy the contract regardless," Oogway revealed. "The results were...not ideal. That path ends with you dead and Kai rampaging across the entire world without anyone to stop him."

"Doesn't sound so bad to me," Kai muttered again.

"This way is much more beneficial for everyone. Yes, even you, Kai," he said pointedly.

"You mean to tell me you can see all of these other branches?" Shen asked skeptically.

"I have a lot of free time."

"That reminds me," he said, growing concerned. "What happened to Yinying anyway? If he too can access these other worlds, he could still try to take revenge."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." The tortoise smiled knowingly. "Where Yinying is now, he will never be a danger to anyone again."

* * *

As soon as Yinying opened his eyes again, he could tell something was wrong.

He was back in his bat-like PR form, but it wasn't the result of him regaining his powers. In fact, he knew he had just lost the rest. This was all he had now. He was mortal, and this was what a mortal bat looked like. He could feel air passing through his lungs, smooth ground beneath his bare feet, the faint beating of a heart that now kept him alive. Mortals were frail indeed. Still, if he was careful, he could find a way to bounce back from even this. After all, it was mortals who did this to him. He could at least admit that there was more to them than meets the eye.

Once he got adjusted to his mortal eyes, he used them to take in his surroundings. This was the Mortal Realm to be sure, but even with his eons of experience, he couldn't identify this place. It was a massive, empty room of a rectangular shape. The floor was smooth, almost shiny, with patterns of brown and black mixed into it. He stood up, not even realizing he had been sitting on some long, metal seats until he looked back and saw them. On opposite ends of the room were two towering posts that held a small net aloft. At least they _looked_ like nets. They wouldn't be very efficient in that regard considering there were giant holes in each of them. Between them was something he couldn't even _begin_ to figure out. It was another rectangle, black in color and with faded symbols on its surface. "Where the home am I?"

Shocked by the lack of reverb in his voice, he looked down and saw that even his own clothing had changed. His pristine, business robes were gone, replaced with a plain white shirt and blue shorts. How boring. Even so, he didn't exactly feel _punished._ If this was the best Department Six had to offer, their reputation had clearly been exaggerated.

"Ow!" He was immediately struck in the nose by a round projectile. He glared down at the offender, a red rubber ball, annoyed that such a pitiful object could cause him pain now.

Before he could see where it had come from, he found himself suddenly yanked off the ground by his collar, coming face to face with a face he'd hoped never to face again. "Heya, Batcrap! Didn't you hear the bell? You're gonna be late for our next class!"

And just as incomprehensible as ever. "Mr. Kai, how... _lovely_ to see you again."

The yak looked almost the same as he remembered him, though he lacked his swords or jade amulets, dressed in the same garb that he now wore. " _Mr._ Kai? Ha, I like the sound of that! You hear that, Shen? The Dork Lord is finally showing us some respect."

"It's about time." The peacock stepped out from behind his larger comrade, the plain clothing looking especially odd on him. "Still doesn't excuse him forgetting to do our homework though. Not that _I_ need it."

"How dare you mock me!" Yinying hissed. "If I still had my powers, I would vaporize you on the spot!"

Kai snorted. " _Powers?_ Geez, you really are a deluded little dorkus, aren'tcha? News flash, Flappy, you've never had any 'powers'. Not unless you count drawing dodgeballs to you like a magnet. You're just a scrawny, nerdy little freak destined to forever live under the heels of those bigger than you!"

"That was surprisingly articulate of you," Shen said, a smirk plastered on his beak. "But you _are_ right. Sounds like our friend here hasn't learned his place after all. I believe we should do something about that."

"Good idea." Kai glared down at the bat menacingly. Yinying was reminded once again of why he had feared these two in the end. "I think Mr. Yinying needs another meeting with Mr. Swirlie."

"Who?" He was dragged helplessly out of the room and towards what he could already tell was some kind of advanced outhouse. There was certainly nothing to this level in _his_ world. It defied all logic how any of this could exist.

He realized then just where he was. In his position, he was well aware of how the multiverse worked, how each split branched off from a different decision. But there were some universes that couldn't be explained so easily. Some that were so bizarre that they might as well have been a different reality altogether if not for that which remained a constant. He had just been banished to such a universe, with a version of Shen and Kai who would be his betters for all of eternity.

"No! Let me out of this horrible place! You can't do this to me! I'm supposed to be important! Nooooooooooooo!" As Yinying's screams were drowned out by flushing waters, Panda High closed its doors on its newest student.

* * *

"That's...disturbing," Shen said, blinking in disbelief.

"Yeah, even for the Underworld, that's pretty screwed up," Kai admitted.

"I almost feel bad for the guy," Po added, cringing.

Oogway just nodded. "But he is not our concern anymore. Let us get back to discussing the two of you."

"You mean three?" Po asked.

"Nope. It may be your destiny to come here one day, but that won't happen until you are dead."

He tried to hold his smile. "That's good to know...I think."

"Yes, what _about_ the two of us?" Shen pressed, circling around the panda. "In case I'm mistaken, you still haven't answered my question!"

"You are not mistaken."

" _I know!_ But what I _need_ to know is what's going to happen to me now! Can I return to the Mortal Realm or not?!"

"I also want to know that," Kai said, raising his arm. "Not that I'm talking to you again or anything."

"In your case, it is a matter of two choices" Oogway approached his old friend, once again ignoring an annoyed Shen. "If you wish, I _could_ send you back to the Mortal Realm. However, doing so in your current state is something you may not find desirable."

He narrowed his eyes. "Whyyyyyyyyy?"

"Because you are a wanted criminal," he answered casually. "A wanted criminal with no chi but his own to survive on."

"You know I can just steal a bunch back, right?"

" _Can_ you?"

"Yeah! And you know what, maybe this time I'll start with _you!"_ Kai furiously thrust both hooves towards the grandmaster. Po and Shen rushed forward to stop him.

It mattered not, for absolutely nothing happened. "Seriously?! _This_ again?!"

"This again," Oogway confirmed. "And it will be this again anytime you try to steal chi."

"W-What?! Why?!"

"Because you know better now." Oogway flicked him in the forehead. "You know that this isn't the way to the kind of power you seek. It was that same knowledge that led you to release it all in the first place. Your mind and body simply won't allow you to make that same mistake again. But this is not a weakness, Kai. It is a strength."

"Sure _feels_ like a weakness," And yet, he didn't pout for nearly as long this time. "What's my other choice?"

"You stay here in the Spirit Realm with me." Oogway gestured to the tree behind him. "I think I see a branch big enough for you up towards the top."

"Not a chance," Kai snapped, not giving it a second of thought. "You may be a big deal in the Spirit Realm...and the Mortal Realm...and the Underworld apparently...but you're still just a traitor to me!"

"You don't really feel that way anymore. If you did, you would be able to steal my chi."

Kai, who hated being reminded of his own inadequacies more than anything else, deflated at that remark. "Screw you. Either way, I sure as heck don't _need_ you anymore."

"This much is true," Oogway agreed, almost sadly. "But it is probably for the best. I shouldn't hold on to the past either. What kind of old master would I be if I couldn't even follow my own advice?"

"Probably the same kind that can't answer a simple question," Shen jabbed.

Po whispered loudly to the tortoise. " _I think he's getting impatient."_

"Oh?" Oogway turned towards Shen, as if noticing him for the first time. "Would you like to know what will happen to _you?"_

He couldn't tell if he was doing this on purpose or not. "Why _yes,_ as a matter of fact, I _would_ be curious about that! Thank you so much for asking!"

"You're welcome." Definitely doing it on purpose. "Now in your case, Shen, I'm afraid it is a bit more complicated…"

"I've become used to that," he said, deadpan. "How so?"

The tortoise wet his lips for a few moments. Shen was about ready to literally light a fire under him, but when Oogway finally spoke, he knew why he had stalled so long. "Feasibly, you _could_ return to the Mortal Realm as well. Your victory over Yinying has earned you that privilege. However...you do not belong here. You are the product of a different world, one where you are supposed to be dead. If you were to remain in this split you created, it could cause an imbalance. Even if you were to stay in the Spirit Realm, it wouldn't be the same version of it."

Kai gave a low whistle. "Wow, tough break."

Shen took the news remarkably well, perhaps because he wasn't expecting it to be easy. "Are you telling me I'm being kicked out? Hmph. I've become used to _that_ too…"

"Only if you wish to leave," Oogway said.

"Wait, wait, I don't get it," Po cut in. "What _could_ happen if he stuck around here?"

"You remember that scenario you described about the entire universe imploding on itself?" Shen asked.

"Yeah?"

" _That."_

Po shuddered, but wasn't deterred. "But...that's still just a possibility, right? You don't actually _know_ if something like that could happen!"

Shen put a wing on his arm. "You didn't know either when Yinying threatened you with it, yet you refused to take the risk. The thought didn't even occur to you at the time. I've given you flak for a lot of your bumbling decisions in the past, but I can't fault you for that one. At least, not anymore. My worldview has grown a lot less self-centric as of late, thanks to you, and so I can no longer stay in your world if there remains any chance of endangering it." He frowned. "Besides, I went through a lot of trouble killing myself to save you all from Yinying and I'm not throwing that away on a crapshoot."

Oogway smiled approvingly. "That is a good answer. Befitting of a hero."

"I'm no hero. I just want to move on already."

"Wait!" Po yelled. "If you can't stay in this universe anymore, does that mean you have to go back to your own? Aren't you like eternally damned there?"

"Technically, I was never formally judged, but that outcome seems likely." Shen shrugged, as if that were no big deal.

"That's not fair! Not after all you've done!"

"It's not like I was expecting this much. Do you remember the terms of my contract? What it said would happen should I succeed in my task of killing Kai?"

"Still glad you didn't, by the way," Kai interjected.

Po thought back to it, the gears in his mind turning rapidly. "I...don't remember anything about that."

"Because I didn't make any. I laid out no terms after my success, outside of _not_ becoming Yinying's slave. He probably thought he was getting that past me, but I knew all along. I never intended to return for any longer than that. All I wanted was to prove to myself that I really _could_ change, and that knowledge would hopefully bring me true peace in whatever hell I found myself in." He sighed. "It's a shame that I have since found reason to live again, but it's hardly disappointing."

Defeated, Po groaned loudly.

"No, I'm gonna have to agree with the fat guy. That isn't kosher." Kai literally shoved the bear aside. "But I have another idea!"

"Oh, this should be interesting…"

"It usually is," Oogway agreed.

"How about you stay here in the Spirit Realm with me? We can sort of carve out our own little corner of it and just hang out, spar and stuff. Then _I_ don't have to be by myself again and _you_ don't have to endanger any lives. Everyone here is already dead!"

Shen blinked. "As much as the idea appeals to me...I don't think that's feasible."

Defeated, Kai groaned loudly, in unison with Po.

Oogway watched this entire exchange go on back and forth, his glossy eyes slowly tracking them. Yet he had no problem keeping up. "Your drive is admirable. I never thought I'd see the day when anyone would try so hard to keep Lord Shen around." He paused. "Okay, I'll tell you the other option then."

Three heads snapped towards him, with mixed expressions of surprise, confusion, and annoyance. " _Other option?!"_

"Yes. And this one I can offer to both of you." Oogway lightly kicked the side of his tree, causing another peach to fall meaningfully into his open palm. "Reincarnation."

The announcement passed over the duo like a ripple. A small wave splashed against the island behind them.

Shen shook his head distastefully. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm happy with how I've lived this life, in the end. I don't need a new one where I won't even remember it."

"I'll pass," Kai agreed. "I have enough trouble as it is getting people to remember me; I don't need _myself_ forgetting too."

"You misunderstand. Many lost souls are given a chance at reincarnation, even the lowest of criminals." He didn't so much as glance at Kai, but the yak glared at him anyway. "What I am offering you is something much greater." He tossed the peach gently into the air and kicked it in half, then planted a single seed into the ground. All in the space of about half a second. "The chance to begin a new life without forgetting the old, to be able to move on while being unburdened by your past selves. You will have new bodies, new identities, and hopefully new acquaintances, but you will still be Shen and Kai. You're just the only ones who will realize it."

Shen was stunned. This sounded too good to be true, which instantly made him suspicious. "You're not going to make me sign anything, are you?"

Oogway stared at him, bemused. "What would _I_ ever want with your soul?"

Shen scowled. This reptile really had a way of making him sound like an idiot. "I just want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into this time."

Oogway stared down at the seed he had planted. "Right now, you are like this seed. Your true self remains buried under your experiences, unable to fully blossom. But in different soil…" Slowly, yet much faster than any mortal plant, the seed sprung up, forming a small bloom. "...you may yet grow into something beautiful."

"Was...that supposed to reassure me?"

"Wait, I think I heard something like that before," Po pondered.

"I learned it from Master Shifu. He has become good at this from what I hear."

"You're not really considering this, right?" Kai asked the bird. "It sounds like a witness protection program!"

"To be fair, my alternatives are either Hell or potentially destroying the universe. I'm really not that picky."

"Still! To just...throw away your own identity like that?"

He shrugged. "Let's face it, my identity has never done me any favors, not since the day I was born. I could use a change of face, especially if I'll still be me on the inside."

"Don't worry so much." Po smiled, taking a gamble by placing a supportive paw on Kai's back. "Even if you won't look like it anymore, you'll still be the Beast of Vengeance and Maker of Widows. Though you might want to shoot for something else if you're gonna be turning over a new leaf. Like, Beast of Justice and Maker of...Happily-married Folk. Work on it. Point is, you'll always be Kai within your heart-"

"AGGGH! STOP IT! You're gonna make me hurl!" Kai violently whipped the panda's paw away.

"I share your sentiments," Shen said. "Nonetheless, he does have a point. Here in the Spirit Realm, you are nothing, Kai. Come with me and you can build your reputation back all over again. You could be greater than ever and finally be recognized for it."

Kai turned back to Po and pointed at Shen. "You see? _That_ I can get onboard with."

"He does have a better way with words than me," Po admitted. "I'm gonna miss that."

Shen cleared his throat. "Yes...and I'll miss your...sense of humor."

The panda sighed. "So I guess this is goodbye then."

"I suppose so."

"Kinda sucks."

"Yes. Better than just dying on you though."

"Better than me being stuck as a statue too."

"You're welcome!" Kai shouted. He nudged Oogway. "Geez, and Shen accuses _us_ of having unresolved tension."

It was one of the very few times Oogway had ever been surprised. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

"And on that note, this is officially taking too long," Shen said, stepping back from the panda. "Tell the Soothsayer and my men that I meant what I said. They'll know what you mean."

"Okay…" Po replied, with a smile, but one that wavered.

"What is it now?"

Po kept up the nervous smile, his body twitching. Astonishingly, Shen knew what he wanted. He relented, spreading his wings apart. "Alright, you can have _one_ hug."

Po let out a noise somewhere between a gasp and a squeal, wrapping the bird up in his large arms and hugging him tightly. Shen screamed. If he weren't already dead, he was pretty sure this hug would break every bone in his body. Nevertheless, he let Po keep hugging him for as long as he wished, which was a full seventeen seconds. Yes, he counted.

When the ordeal was finally over, Shen staggered over to Oogway. "I think I'm ready now."

"I would say so," Oogway chuckled. He turned to Kai. "How about you?"

"You haven't exactly given me a lot of options either," Kai said bitterly. "This is basically one step below an ultimatum."

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"You should take that as a 'go screw yourself', but I'll take the stupid offer."

At this, Oogway finally dropped the facade. "Kai, I do not wish for us to part on bad terms. Not again. This may well be the last time we see each other."

He snorted. "Do you expect an apology? Because you ain't-"

"No. I do not want an apology. I want your forgiveness. You needed to be stopped, but perhaps there was another way to do it. I failed you as a friend and brother, Kai."

"You sure did." He turned around quickly, quickly enough to hide the look on his face. "...Can we just get on with it?"

"...Very well. Both of you, board the boat."

"Again?" Shen asked curiously.

"You are going on a trip. It only seems appropriate to take a boat."

Having long lost the energy to argue with him, Shen stepped into the boat again, followed by a sullen Kai. Po almost joined them when Oogway held him back. "Not yet, Dragon Warrior. At least finish _this_ life before you go seeking another."

"O-Oh yeah, right," the panda stammered. "Just got caught up in the moment.

Oogway stepped up to the edge and gently pushed the boat out to sea with the top of his staff. With two lost souls as its passengers, the small boat grew further and further from shore, until even Po's excited waving could no longer be seen, nor his goodbyes heard.

And then there was silence. "Finally, some peace and quiet," said Kai.

A loud, roaring sound sprung from all around them. Shen and Kai readied themselves for battle, only to realize it was already too late. This formerly calm sea had suddenly been ravaged by a whirlpool, with themselves at the center of it. They screamed, knowing they were rapidly getting sucked down, but unable to do a thing to stop it. Somehow, they got the feeling they weren't going to just pop out from above this time.

"I didn't know reincarnation was so violent!" Kai yelled.

"I think it's metaphorical! Like waves washing away our old selves!"

"Are you sure?!"

"No, but it's either that, or we're about to find out if spirits can drown!"

In a way much less peaceful and enlightening than either of them imagined, but perfectly befitting of Oogway's usual teaching methods, Shen and Kai were dragged into the depths, the golden waters engulfing them completely. And then it was over. The Spirit Realm returned to its usual calm self like nothing ever happened.

Even from a distance, the rushing water and screams were hard to miss. Po gaped openly at the old tortoise next to him. "Are they okay?!"

"Better than okay. Better than ever."

"If you say so…" The panda shifted around, not quite sure what to do now. "So when do I leave?"

"Whenever you'd like."

His stomach growled. "Then wanna share some spirit peaches?"

Oogway paused, then smiled. "Okay."

* * *

This was absolutely nothing like reincarnation was purported to be. Not that there was much in the way of primary sources, what with losing all memory of your past self and all. It was less of a graceful transition and more of a sudden plop. One second they were being drenched in sparkling water, the next they were somewhere completely different. Some _thing_ completely different.

And Shen was starting to wish he _had_ lost his memories, even for a second time.

At first, he appeared to be smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Back in China probably, but that was about all he could discern. Tall mountains surrounded him on each side, no sign of life on any of them, but plenty of snow. It then occurred to him that he himself was laying in a pile of snow, though the cold didn't bother him as much as it usually did. He supposed he should take that as a relief.

He had no idea where Kai was, or even where civilization was, but right now he would settle for just standing up. His body felt so much heavier than he was used to, probably a result of being dead for so long. He couldn't so much as sit up straight without a good deal of effort, and when he did, he ended up overcompensating and landing face down in the snow this time. At least no one was around to see this humiliation. He hefted himself up on his paws and forced himself back into sitting position to try again.

 _Wait...paws?_

Reincarnation was a bitch, and it had teamed up with irony to bestow upon him a fate worse than death. As he finally looked down upon himself in abject horror, Shen was faced with a truth too hard to bare. The worst _kind_ of bear. He was now a panda. A fat, smelly panda. And he had traded Hell for this.

Shen's plump face turned expressionless. "Wow, I hate that tortoise."

* * *

 _You know what's worse than ending a chapter on a cliffhanger? Ending a *story* on a cliffhanger! Okay, so it's not really a cliffie since the main conflict has been resolved and all, but we hope you enjoyed all the rest of the loose ends being tied up anyway. Conclusions have always been hard to write, ever since the old days of making five paragraph essays. To think *that* once seemed lengthy! XD_

 _Oogway has also been hard to write, especially with so little practice throughout this story. He comes across as benevolent, yet very much eccentric and even a bit manipulative at times, kinda like a reptilian Dumbledore. Tempting as it was for him and Kai to completely make up, it just seemed too fast to be realistic, hence this "kind of, sort of" approach instead._

 _Meanwhile, the celebration scene back in Gongmen was more or less just a standard for this kind of thing. Honestly, it's pretty much filler, but we all wanna see these guys happy for once, right? The inverse goes for Yinying, whose final fate was planned out long in advance. Don't worry, it was just as fun to write as it was to read. :)_

 _And lastly...the ending. Here's a fun fact: the premise of Shen turning into a panda was actually something I had planned before even starting Shen vs. Kai, as its own separate story where Shen wakes up like this and has to figure out what the hell is going on. Ultimately, I decided that Shen vs. Kai sounded more interesting, but now the idea has come full cirlce! Yes, this is a set up to yet another potential sequel. I know. Would you have preferred the fade to white, ambiguous afterlife LOST ending? The good news is that the next KFP story Jack and I write will be one of the *other* long-foretold sequels! There's just a certain fox-shaped piece of unfinished business that we should probably get back to first. Or perhaps we already are. ;)_


End file.
